My son really wants to go to a "Military School"? Any advice? (SAT, college)
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As a backstory, my parents kind of have f-u money and willing to pay for my 14 year old son to basically any school he wants.
When my son found out, he says he really wants to go to a military school, which was surprising because his a long haired theatre type kid (also plays sports) who has never expressed interest in the military before. Although now he says he may look at a service academy for college.
When we grilled him a bit, he said he wants to attend because of leadership opportunities and the discipline... not necessarily for himself but he wants to be around others who are all disciplined and he's willing to roll with strict rules if that's the case. Also, he says he found videos online of them, and he says it looks cool to be able to live with his friends, he said it would be worth the haircut and uniform.
We've been actively looking at Culver and New Mexico Military Institute. Both real expensive, but also... I kind of feel like my parents aren't even going to the price.
So anyways, strange to have a son who actually wants to go to a military school and wondering if anyone knows anything about them.
I don't know anything about military schools, but if he is a basketball fan, the Golden State Warriors newest rookie, Brandin Podziemski, says he was told if he had not gone to military school, he might have turned out bad (paraphrasing what he said).
He is extremely tough and disciplined, so it was really good for him.
As a backstory, my parents kind of have f-u money and willing to pay for my 14 year old son to basically any school he wants.
When my son found out, he says he really wants to go to a military school, which was surprising because his a long haired theatre type kid (also plays sports) who has never expressed interest in the military before. Although now he says he may look at a service academy for college.
When we grilled him a bit, he said he wants to attend because of leadership opportunities and the discipline... not necessarily for himself but he wants to be around others who are all disciplined and he's willing to roll with strict rules if that's the case. Also, he says he found videos online of them, and he says it looks cool to be able to live with his friends, he said it would be worth the haircut and uniform.
We've been actively looking at Culver and New Mexico Military Institute. Both real expensive, but also... I kind of feel like my parents aren't even going to the price.
So anyways, strange to have a son who actually wants to go to a military school and wondering if anyone knows anything about them.
FWIW, my son did ROTC in college. He lived on campus and came home at the end of each semester. Each time he came home, I noticed a marked level of increased maturity in him. He was better organized and seemed to make good use of his free time.
The ROTC tasked him with different challenges. It was a no nonsense environment where a few other students were dismissed due to behavior/attitude. The dismissal of the others left quite an impression on him that he better conduct himself in a lawful manner or else possibly face expulsion. A sort of scared straight program.
I'm sure my son would have reached his peak maturity on his own. I also believe his exposure to the military culture of the ROTC made that maturity happen a lot sooner.
I have to think that a military academy would instill the kind of behavior such as those gained by participating in an ROTC program.
Today my kid is a trilingual pilot serving overseas. And he's a mere 6 years away from retirement and still in his 30s.
nothing wrong with the military or military school.
Your son wanting to be around others who enjoy discipline, structure, and objectives is a positive. It shows he wants to do right, has morals, wants to be part of team-based environment and will become a productive person in an otherwise declining rules and laws-based western society. Most college students are not getting this unless they're in sports.
he says it looks cool to be able to live with his friends,
Does he have friends who want to go to military school? Or does he somehow imagine that the other students will become his friends? Is he ok with getting his hair cut into a military buzz cut?
Are your parents ok with the possible eventuality that he hates it, and decides he wants out?
Has he thought past military school, to what would be next? Is he interested in a career in the military? If so, he doesn't need to attend a military highschool to get a good career in the military. He could go to the military language academy in Monterey, CA, learn a strategic language (Chinese, Russian, Near Eastern langs., etc.), and graduate as an officer and get an overseas assignment. (If he's good at foreign languages.) There are other options as well. But maybe testing the waters at the highschool level isn't a bad idea.
Last edited by Ruth4Truth; 03-22-2024 at 10:26 AM..
I did ROTC in college. Both my kids did JROTC in high school and youngest graduated USMA ('22). Don't know what grade he's in, but the service academies have a summer program for prospective attendees so they can get a feel for what life is like as a Cadet. https://www.westpoint.edu/admissions/summer-program
The youngest had been planning on ROTC and sort of applied on a whim and didn't expect to get accepted so he hadn't done the summer program. We could see the growth and maturity in him with each visit. I'm not sure he recognized it, but it was a natural fit for his personality. I think the hardest thing on him was actually the New York winter -- grey skies, grey trees, grey buildings, grey uniforms. Even the snow turned grey after it sat on the ground a while.
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