[mlyle]

I'm a middle school teacher. I try to create engaging, interesting lessons for a clear path for why things are worthwhile. I also only teach what many students consider "fun stuff": robotics, "How to Make Almost Anything," etc. My programs and classes have done pretty well in the past on metrics of engagement, learning, student satisfaction, etc-- partially because of the cheat code of having material that's pretty intrinsically interesting.

There is still a pretty big subset of students that without the threat of enforcement or bad grades leading to parental action, will do almost nothing. It's especially visible now with some of my students being remote-- it's a constant battle to avoid previously engaged, excited, and interested students from just popping a Fortnite window open and escaping the class discussion.

I can make 75% of my class time fun; I can make it pretty obvious why the skills we practice are extremely valuable stuff in both the near term and the long term whether or not they decide to be an engineer one day. But I can't make every minute of class time more immediately rewarding than playing Fortnite.

[m0zg]

Case in point: one of my son's classes is video game design. That's one of those "F"s he's going to get. I've looked at it as I was helping him, the class is actually surprisingly good. If this is not sufficiently engaging, nothing will ever be.

And as far as parental action, parents can't really do shit nowadays. Nearly 100% of homework is done on a computer, which of course also runs games and YouTube, and provides endless opportunities for distraction.

[mlyle]

re: nothing to be done: There's always spyware/locking down devices/etc. You -can- do stuff, but you need to really think about whether it's worth it.

I hear you saying the class is surprisingly good. Just for anyone else, though: keep an open mind and open ears about these kinds of classes. There is a whole lot of "fun STEM" out there that is really... not. Nothing is more soul-crushing than something that's supposed to be fun being mindless small steps way below one's ability.

I do my very best to -not- have my classes be in that category, most of the time.

[m0zg]

Spyware or locking down doesn't really work in this day and age if the kid is using a Windows PC. In most (if not all) Windows PCs you have local access to you can create an administrative account not subject to parental controls or anything else. No admin access is required to create it. This is trivially discoverable through Google.

And I think the class I mentioned is genuinely good, actually. It's how I'd teach the subject - builds up from simple to complex, using an industry-leading game engine (Unity), interesting assignments, etc. Of course kids nowadays want to build an AAA 3D game right off the bat, but there's value in understanding that this doesn't work, and you have to start simple.

[mlyle]

If your kid bypasses controls, though, that's something else you can address. Surely you have some levers you can pull.

My eldest is currently locked down on devices because he googled a couple of answers to the online advanced math class he was taking. (It was stupid; he had honestly completed much harder problems but for some reason decided to cheat on a couple of easy ones).

He's not going to bypass controls because A) he knows he will get access back (carrot), and B) he knows that if he further abuses trust that things can get much worse (stick)... and of course C) he knows that we will know if controls are bypassed.

[m0zg]

> much worse

"Much worse" like what? I can't really take his access away, and I can't watch him 24x7. He's 16. I'd expect the brain to turn on by this point.

[mlyle]

Surely you have some degree of stuff you do for him that is in excess of what is legally required of being his guardian.

I'm not parent of a teen, yet, and I know things are difficult to implement (it caused enough angst to restrict and lock down my 11 year old -- it certainly wasn't the most painless option in the near term).

But you don't want to keep heading towards an inevitable cliff... fight the good fight. I wish you the best, and I'm sorry if this is tonedeaf and naive.