This stigma is the strongest for those in an Asian family (very pronounced in Chinese, Japanese and Korean families). Not sure how strong this stigma it is in non-Asian families.

I have a cousin who has a son that has a projected graduation date of this June.

That said, from what I've been hearing from her, I am thinking that there is only about a fifty-fifty chance that he will graduate on time. He has passed his exit exam, but isn't doing well in school in general lately based on her conversations with me (and my mother).

I am wondering if somehow I was able to steer and mentor him a few years ago that he would be able to gain admission to one of the more prestigious public high schools via examination (includes the one that is my alma mater), they would very highly not be in that bad a position.

I should also note that he does attend a public high school and from what I've heard, he is probably borderline on attending college, and even then, he is planning on going to a college whose name that I've never heard before. I am not even sure if he got accepted into any really good colleges/universities either, since his motivation for studies isn't quite high.

I am not even going to say what kind of crowd he associates with in school either.

Has anyone else known someone that has actually not graduated from school on time and how did person's family take that news?

yawn

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moomin

Honey-bunnyyyy...

Nobody in my family did that, but if they had, I imagine the shame would have been pretty great. College is one thing, but if it's just high school?

People would start to wonder if the kid was stupid.

well my family were very upset when i droped out of uni
still asking me when im going to go back, and study for a carrer/job

"Where so ever you go, go with all your Heart."

Well...my brother never graduated HS b/c he got locked up when he was almost 18. Spent 7 years in prison. So, not graduating on time or even graduating at all was an extremely trivial issue in my family.

I have seen alot of families put alot of pressure on kids to graduate from college and have seen them get upset if they don't graduate on time. My best friend growing up decided to drop out of college and join the army. This of course upset his father alot. When he finished his tour in the Army and went back to school, his father put alot of pressure on him to finish.
I have seen poor families put pressure on kids because they want to see them suceed where they didn't, have seen well off families put pressure on kids because they want them to follow in the same foot steps, think its just how parents are, of any race.
My grandmother (who was the matriarch of my family) was VERY disappointed in me for dropping out of college my first year. She was always on my case to go back and never saw my Optician's license as a real education. She also never thought I worked enough either, even if I worked 6days a week full time. She was tough. Not sure how she would take me going back to school for culinary arts, probably wouldn't be too happy with that either lol.

I was the first in my family to go to college, so they were all thrilled that I even went. There was no pressure. I was going to graduate on time, come hell or high water, because I didn't start til I was 26 and took time out of my career to go to school. Plus, I'm teacher's pet anyway so I was the quintessential super duper college student and graduated with my bachelor's and master's in 4 years.

Let's put it this way.

I just flunked the Bar Exam (you are required to take this in order to get licensed as an attorney)...twice. When my dad "found out" about this (I never told him that, seeing as I'm 25 years old and I don't exactly "live" with my p