Q: What do you do with a child that says, "I will do it (meaning his school work)...don't worry," but then he does not ever complete his work? He has many missing assignments, and I am very concerned this will result in him failing his classes.

A: Your son's good intentions or promises that are not carried through appear to be snowballing into full-blown underachievement. If this is only a fairly recent development, you can hopefully nip the bad habits "in the proverbial bud," but if this has been an ongoing problem, I would recommend your son receive a comprehensive evaluation by a psychologist. The evaluation could determine if there is a learning disability or an attention deficit disorder problem, which could result in further, more specific recommendations to assist him.

If this problem is only a recent development, it would be good for both you and his father to have a serious talk with your son. Ask him for any insights he has regarding his reasons for procrastinating and avoiding his work. Is it too hard for him to pay attention? Is the work too difficult to understand? Also ask him about his friends and if they are able to understand and complete all of their homework — peer influence can make a big difference. Help him to project what the future will hold for him if he continues on this destructive path, and let him know how, together, you can make a plan for his independent work completion.

Provide him with guidance in scheduling his time at home for schoolwork before any involvement with video games or online socializing so that he understands work comes before play. Offer to set up a small reward system to help get him started in developing these good new habits. If he is still in primary school, rewards could include stickers, stars or small trinkets. If he is older, the reward could be monetary, but if a child is older there should also be a negative consequence for non-compliance. Write this up as a fair contract and be sure to keep a copy, because if your son fails to comply, chances are he will also "misplace" his copy of the contract. The involvement of both parents in reversing this underachievement trend will help your son to realize that his problem is becoming serious and that you both want him to succeed. Also, let him know that you wish to discontinue nagging and reminding him about his responsibilities. You can find more ideas about contracting and negotiating with underachieving children in my book, Why Bright Kids Get Poor Grades And What You Can Do About It.

For free newsletters or articles entitled Bright Kids, Poor Grades: And What You Can Do About It, Learning Disabilities, Growing Up Too Fast, Peer Influence, and/or ADHD, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the address below. Dr. Sylvia B. Rimm is the director of the Family Achievement Clinic in Cleveland, a clinical professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and the author of many books on parenting. More information on raising kids is available at www.sylviarimm.com. Please send questions to: Sylvia B. Rimm on Raising Kids, P.O. Box 32, Watertown, WI 53094 or srimm@sylviarimm.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.