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Agreed - they also rarely BUILD anything anymore... As far as I know, most schools have removed all shop classes and similar courses for fear of lawsuits. A shop class with some older, but still working, CNC machines or something could be a real boon for teaching students how to take a concept from idea to reality, and educate them in all the bumps in the road along the way.
Face it, a lot of students hated shop and home-ec, and for many, it often gave them no foundation for what they were planning on doing with their lives. The guy that wanted to become an x-ray technician didn't really gain much from sanding a block of wood, inserting a few screws, and making a napkin holder. I found Home-Ec offensive as I already knew how to cook, sew, and iron by the time I took it. (Plus I wanted to take auto shop instead and wasn't allowed to. Still bitter? Very.)
Anyhow, vo-tech programs that are offered in conjunction with reading, writing, and 'rithmatic offer stellar opportunities for students who have no interest in a college track and want real-life training. Auto body, engine repair, culinary (way beyond learning how to bake a cake like we did in home-ec), nursing, cosmetology, construction arts, CIS, and more are offered and give students hands on experience and prepare them to leave high school and enter a trade at an apprentice or entry level. The states that have the common sense to offer these type of programs should be applauded, and to be honest, we need to make sure that funding for these programs isn't cut. Frankly I'd rather see funding cut for ESL or AP programs.
Anyone can punch values into a computer and get a result. The person I would want working for or with me would be the one with enough critical thinking skills to at least have an idea of what the right result should be, and why. I feel the education system today is not doing enough to foster independent and critical thinking skills. A human and a computer are exponentially more powerful when paired together. Computers do what you tell them to, and they assume you know what you are doing. Hence, human's can potentially net exponentially more wrong result when paired with said computer. More productivity is only a good thing if the output is correct.
I guess my point is, there is a lot in between the problem and answer process. Memorizing answers is one thing, but knowing and understanding what is in between is perhaps the most important and valued element of all.
Bottom line, too many schools are "teaching to the test" instead of teaching kids how to come up with answers on their own. No Child Left Behind has decimated education in this country.
HS graduates don't spend their lives saddled with student debt. Don't get me wrong. College is necessary, but not because it actually teaches you anything. I didn't learn anything in college that I can apply to a job.
I disagree. College isn't necessary for half the jobs out there that require a college degree. If I had a marketing coordinator job open, I'd rather hire someone who has spent the past four years working for a marketing firm or in a marketing department as an admin than someone who has spent the past four years in college earning a marketing degree but has no real life experience.
Which is exactly what one would expect, since we send our best and brightest to college. What you're basically saying is our best and brightest have a better shot at obtaining gainful employment. No argument here. Statistics tend to convey a wide variety of ideas, depending on the angle you look.
The idea that sending EVERYONE to college to obtain a 4 year degree is what scares me. This does not create more high paying jobs, it just creates more competitors for these high paying jobs. Someone still has to clean toilets and mow lawns
I disagree that the best and brightest are the ones that go to college. I think you just offended an entire segment of population who are just as bright if not more so than people with college degrees, but chose to enter a trade. My brother is a craftsman, he dropped out of a prestigious school with a full math scholarship in the middle of his sophmore year because he hated it. He's a member of Mensa by the way. But in your eyes he must be stupid because he doesn't have a degree and works with his hands. Nice.
PS--My sister has a PhD, my brother and I both have significantly higher IQ's and some college but no degree. So her PhD and a dollar will buy her coffee at McDonald's.
Our best and brightest w/o a degree would be in the same shape as a typical 22 year old hs grad. Not pretty in 2012 per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Now I agree all should not go, but stopping flat after 12 w/o formal education, training, OR degrees is suicidal.
I disagree. There are some fields where you can make a fortune with none of the above. Granted they are few and far between, but they do exist.
Asking to be taught by he who pays you is a "sin" in the workplace, and employers will not do it. Paying to "learn how to learn" makes one the customer, who is always right.
Employers will not WASTE 1/2 a years pay training an unedcated employee. It generally costs 115-120% of gross pay, plus 5-10k for six months of Health Insurance.
We've got some apprentices working in our shop. Two are in formal training programs half day and with us half day, the other is a learn on the job apprentice who bugged us every week for six months until we gave him a job pushing a broom. He kept asking for more and more responsibilities that now he's learning a trade on the job.
If I lost all my income tomorrow, I could go to my college career services and they would find me a new job. I'd be on interview next week and have options by the following weeks. What will a HS graduate do if they lose their income?
In some fields it's not going to happen. There are somethings you just can't outsource.
Face it, a lot of students hated shop and home-ec, and for many, it often gave them no foundation for what they were planning on doing with their lives. The guy that wanted to become an x-ray technician didn't really gain much from sanding a block of wood, inserting a few screws, and making a napkin holder. I found Home-Ec offensive as I already knew how to cook, sew, and iron by the time I took it. (Plus I wanted to take auto shop instead and wasn't allowed to. Still bitter? Very.)
All I'm getting at is that physically working and having to build something would teach students the difference between theory and reality. I admit that sanding wood blocks and making things out of sheetmetal may not be terribly relavent to today's job market, but at least it would give the students some experience in converting theory (drawings, ideas, etc.) to reality.
Oh, and I hear you about auto shop. In my high school, auto shop was reserved for the druggies and drop-outs. They never actually worked on any cars from what I heard... they just sat around out back and smoked all day. So, while I wanted to take that class, I know full well I would have learned nothing and would not have been welcome by the soon-to-be career criminals in the class. What a joke!
All I'm getting at is that physically working and having to build something would teach students the difference between theory and reality. I admit that sanding wood blocks and making things out of sheetmetal may not be terribly relavent to today's job market, but at least it would give the students some experience in converting theory (drawings, ideas, etc.) to reality.
Oh, and I hear you about auto shop. In my high school, auto shop was reserved for the druggies and drop-outs. They never actually worked on any cars from what I heard... they just sat around out back and smoked all day. So, while I wanted to take that class, I know full well I would have learned nothing and would not have been welcome by the soon-to-be career criminals in the class. What a joke!
In my high school it was the total opposite because auto shop was an elective and had high attendance and performance standards. (Wood shop was where the druggies hung out.)
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