There always has to be someone who says it. I got to the bottom of the Rocky article on the Obama visit…
While the speech – and the several questions afterward – generated applause, one area that Christina Eyre said Obama didn’t sufficiently address was vocational training.
The 39-year-old
Denver resident and Obama supporter since the February caucus said it is a mistake to think every high school student is suited for college. She said more should be done to allow those teens to learn trades."We’re always going to need people that are auto mechanics or in other trades," she said. "When we think every kid should go and graduate from college, we set some of them up for failure."
Could we please get past this? Please? Please? There are somewhere around 800,000 auto mechanics in this country (.5% of the workforce) making about $16 an hour. That’s what? Maybe $30,000/year? To top it off, if that would-be mechanic doesn’t go to college, his or her kids are less likely to go, regardless of their intelligence. I’m not the first to regurgitate the research that parents’ education level has more effect on children’s achievement and attainment than almost anything else. Who’s setting who up for failure?
Popularity: 1% [?]
So auto mechanics are failures?
To be clear, my own auto mechanic has made a small killing off the fact that I wouldn’t know a carborator if I woke up next to one.
That being said, on average, they don’t make much money. Their kids aren’t likely to make much money. And their grandkids aren’t likely to make much money. That’s got nothing to do with the (bright and competent) mechanic; it’s just statistically likely to fall out that way. So if we – as a society – define success financially, then I am saying that several generations are less likely to be less successful than if that mechanic had gone to college.
So, I think the problem is in using auto mechanics as the example. I am no expert but I believe the term, “the trades” would include careers as plumbers, electricians, some levels of nursing and even computer techs and graphic designers, most of which make upwards of $50,000/year, a huge improvement over $16/hour. All of these are active careers that use your hands and people skills in additon to your brain. This type of work appeals to many people who dread the thought of sitting at a desk for 8 – 14 hours/day. The point is that we need to offer MORE OPTIONS so that more young people are successful and so that more of your available jobs have qualified applicants. There is not only one way to success…..(read college)