Unfortunately my kid cousin is going through the phase in school where they think school doesn't matter because they are going to be a professional athlete. I think it would be best for me to step in and have a talk with the little guy.
"I, too, went through a similar phase when I was in elementary school when I wanted to be a chef and a football player. I didn't think school mattered in order to reach my goals in both of those professions. Boy was I wrong and luckily for me I didn't try to stick with the school doesn't matter mentality. Look kid, if you give up on school now and do poorly, you're never going to get into college and you absolutely need to succeed in college in order to be a professional football player. If you don't get your grades up, you'll get kicked off the team in high school. And if your grades in high school aren't good enough you won't be able to get in to college. Just let me know if you are struggling with studying or certain classes and I can help you out. Anything you need, let me know."
"I, too, went through a similar phase when I was in elementary school when I wanted to be a chef and a football player. I didn't think school mattered in order to reach my goals in both of those professions. Boy was I wrong and luckily for me I didn't try to stick with the school doesn't matter mentality. Look kid, if you give up on school now and do poorly, you're never going to get into college and you absolutely need to succeed in college in order to be a professional football player. If you don't get your grades up, you'll get kicked off the team in high school. And if your grades in high school aren't good enough you won't be able to get in to college. Just let me know if you are struggling with studying or certain classes and I can help you out. Anything you need, let me know."