Sorry you dumbass, but my kid is not stupid.

The BBQ Pit
1

My kid is a Young Marine. He’s so proud of his accomplishments and he’s worked so hard for them.

Our unit has problems. Our CO is a delusional dumbass. He play favorites with his grandson and only praises him and never the other kids. He makes up rules as he goes along and does absolutley nothing else besides stick his head in the sand. This guy cannot even answer a simple question when the parents ask him one. He just gives us a blank stare. Not to worry, I joined as staff and in September we get to vote for a new CO.

Here’s the situation. When taking a promotion test, all the kids were seated at separate tables all by themselves. Except the grandson, he had his mother on one side of him and his father on the other. I did not hear what they were saying to the boy. When the test results were announced, the grandson was the only one who passed. Some of the parents and kids were concerned that the grandson was being given the answers to the test and people started to voice their concerns. I was one of them, but not the only one or even the loudest one.

The CO asked me what I saw and heard. I told him that I heard nothing, but it was inapproprate for the grandson to have his parents sitting next to him. I told him that from now on, maybe he should not allow that to happen.

That’s when he told me, “My grandson is very bright. He’s the brightest kid in the unit. He doesn’t need to cheat. Now if someone told me your son was cheating, I could believe that, your son would need it.”

Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t compare kids like that. My son has a tremendous amount of common sense. Yes, he does have to work at getting good grades, but he does allright. He averages Bs in school and he’s always passed his promotion tests until this one, but he didn’t study for it. He did pass on the retest. None of this makes him dumb or likely to cheat.

In fact, my kid is so honest that he tells me when he got in trouble at school before I get a letter from the principal. He’ll tell me what he did, why he did it and he’ll take his punishments without complaining and nothing he does is that bad.

This guy is such a jackass. I can’t wait for September.

2

Not familiar with Young Marines, but isn’t one of the purposes of these paramilitary-type organizations to instill a code of ethics and honor in their young members? The fact that the grandson was the only one who passed the test, and was also the only one to have parental units sitting with him is more than enough to raise suspicion that he was being given help not afforded to the others.

I don’t think you should wait for September. Isn’t there a state or regional board or command or something that you could contact to express your concerns?

“It’s OK to cheat if you’re related to the Big Kahuna” is not the kind of message I would want a hypothetical child of mine learning by membership in an organization.

3

Yes, we are in the process of trying to call a special election to have the current CO voted out, but we still have to wait sixty days and have 2/3 of the staff agree to have the special election.

We’re working on it.

4

What, in a nutshell, are the Young Marines?

5

Here you go. The Young Marines

6

How does your son feel about this? Remember that he’s with the majority in not passing. Making noise isn’t necessarily the best for him, even if it will make you feel better.

7

My son loves being a Young Marine. He’s been in sports and other after school activities, but this is where he fits. He’s made a lot of friends and enjoys the trips they go on.

I’ve always told him that this is for him and if he wants to leave, he can.

He is not happy with our CO at all. He wrote to the national headquarters to file a complaint. He asked me to join the staff because he was told that a special election is the best way to remove the current CO. If my son told me to stay out of it, I would.

Thankfully, the CO did not say this in front of my son.

8

There are a Dopers who are real Marines. I wonder what the adult organisation would make of its cadet branch?

9

You hang in there, Dragongirl. Tell your son that I am very proud of him too, and that I am not prone to heaping idle praise. And you, by putting your action where your mouth is, are an excellent role model for him. I’m proud of you as well.