Reply To: Going off the Derech

EzratHashem-you make a good point. Maybe that is the best way to approach him, by focusing on his other talents and see if he’d like to learn something that incorporates his other strengths. At least it’s an opening to him doing something productive, and it may help to build his self esteem at the same time.

koachshtika- you are right, there definitely should be other options for kids within the yeshiva system. And even the yeshiva system that’s in place should take a more individualized, kiruv type approach to each bachur. I shudder when I think of how many kids have left his school, either having been ‘asked’ to leave, or choosing to leave the yeshiva on their own, and eventually leaving the derech completely! My son’s class is less than half of what it used to be. The pressure is way too tough on kids to perform when they may not yet have the emotional maturity to handle such pressure.