@Ken Anderson "On the other hand, I don't like the idea of the government determining the limits of a child's education based on results from an intelligence or aptitude test because I think people are better than that, and the true potential of an individual cannot be accurately measured in that way." How true! I've always maintained, after hearing so many dismal complaints from people having had a "terrible day" at work, that being gainfully-employed while at the same time being very happy doing it, provided the key to the best-adjusted work experience. I was always happy to go off to my job early in adulthood. Unfortunately, some kind of "wanderlust" interfered later in life, and during my last job, the highest-paying of my entire life, I was the unhappiest I ever was, so quit, sold-out of the big city, used the dough to buy 90 acres of ground in the Missouri Ozarks, and worked only for us until the magical S/S vault doors swung grudgingly open when I turned 62. Frank
My best earning years were while I was working as a machine adjuster for the paper company, yet mechanical work was very near the bottom of the list of jobs that I was suited for according to aptitude tests. You know those aptitude test questions that display four or five gears. If one of them is turning clockwise, which direction is the last one going to be turning? Well, I don't have a clue. Give me five gears and I'll line them up. Otherwise, I'm on to the next question.
Youre always taking a chance with whatever you choose but if your going to choose something really dumb because you like it, well...maybe you should have done it for a hobby. Most people don't like their jobs...I know my daughter isn't thrilled with hers..what dentist loves their job? People hate you and complain and you have to work in some pretty disgusting mouths.
This is something that I have been thinking about ever since reading the article that Ken posted. Having read some of the stories about what children had to go through in past years when they started working about as soon as they could be sent to some factory to work, I think that some of it was close to being slave labor, and that should not happen to adults, let alone children. However, I am in total agreement that it is good for children to learn to work from an early age. Most little kids love to help their parents, and those who grow up in the country learn to help with farm chores about as soon as they can toddle along behind their mother or father. My mother had houses and apartments that she rented out, so from an early age, I would go along to help her clean a vacated house and get it ready for renting again. I answered phone calls, and even rode my pony across town (it was a small town) to show apartments, and sometimes to collect rent. My kids also learned to help when they were young, and when I worked in the hops during the summer, they often went along with me and helped out , as did many of the other children in that area whose parents worked in the hop fields. I think that kids now seem not to be as interested in getting a job, and especially if it is one that doesn't pay a lot and is easy to do. many of the seasonal jobs that school kids did in the summer are now done by migrants, like picking fruits and vegetables. Most of the work that we did in the hop fields is all done my Mexican labor nowadays, and has been for quite a while now.
One of the things that worry me is that I don't see a burn desire for eduction much in today's youth. Instead I am seeing a lot of our youth throwing their chances for an education away, yet they still show the world their sense of entitlement. I have my stepdaughter's son living with me now. He is 26, and has not worked more than 6 or 7 months total in his whole life. He is a big help to me, he does whatever needs to be done around the yard, and he even helps with the cooking and cleaning. But he shows very little desire in joining his working or playing contemporaries. But you can bet your "bippy" I'm chewing on his ear.
I don't think I've ever had a job that I didn't like, or learn something from. Now yes, I did like some less than others, but I would either quit, or work my way up. I liked a challenge. I've worked at many kinds of jobs, such as cleaning houses, working in a bar, ( this was before I could get an adult job at 18), as a bonded courier, stores, rebuilding water meters, as eye candy, as a payroll officer, as an accountant, and the last 15 years of my working career I worked as a CEO and CFO of my own company with 329 employees. I think because I was denied an education, I was always striving to learn as much as I could. I'm very much the self taught individual. I saw my first library at 7, and to me it was heaven. I taught myself to read, and was doing better than the children at school when I started at age 8. Oh how my heart broke when my father pulled me out of school at age 10. But that didn't stop me. But it wasn't just academics that I applied myself to. Now days people call me artistic. I called it fundamentals. I taught myself everything from animal husbandry, farming, home economics, to anything that advanced my family's situation. After my husband retired from working with the city, he came to work for me. When people would ask him how working for me was, and did he resent my position, he would tell them, "I have no problem with her keeping me in comfort. I have no problem being a kept man. I did it for her for many years."
Thank you @Ken Anderson, Life would be so boring without the challenges. I'm finally beginning to look forward to the challenge of starting a new life as a single individual.
I see a different picture, it is very competitive if you are college bound. At least here. Not easy to get in a good school. Everybody is trying and a 4.0 and a decent ACT score isn't enough. My grandson will have that but since some of his classes were AP they count more so that helps. He's also done the extra community service and he's still worried. His 2 top choices are very competitive and he may not even get in. He's applied to at least 10 Universities. They are driving up to Oregon before thanksgiving to look at one there.
Hi Ken, I'd vote 'no' for many reasons, but one concern involves the bolded part in your post above. While I wasn't thinking much about it at the time, a much-older cousin brought this up way back in the early 1980s: she was saying in her hometown, whenever possible businesses preferred to hire high school kids because by giving kids part-time hours they didn't have to give them benefits (like health insurance, etc.) Not too many years ago, I learned businesses were taking the same approach to adults- expecting adults to manage on part-time hours. I don't know how widespread this is, but this area has been debating a minimum-wage increase, and the increase is said to only apply to adults. So with all that in mind, can you imagine how many adults who need to support themselves and/or their families will be denied jobs and the jobs given to kids because it'll be more 'cost-effective' for the employers? Logically, there are plenty of people in our generation and even younger who, for various reasons, did not have the opportunity to attend college or earn degrees, and will be in bad shape when employers prefer to hire school kids.