Quote:
Originally Posted by legion
I've been having this conversation with a lot of people lately...
We need a "middle path" in this country.
Right now, there are two paths. If you are an A, B, or C student (and even some D students), you go to college, accumulate a huge amount of debt, and hopefully go on to an office job that allows you to pay back that debt. But the sad truth is that college is very expensive and not all office jobs pay well enough to realistically pay back even what is today a modest education. If you are a D or F student, you are funneled into the trades assuming you manage to stay out of prison. (D student with strong athletic skills? You will be made into a C student.)
Before WWII, only the A students and the very wealthy went to college. The B and C students went into the trades, and the rest struggled to get by.
I think we need to get away from "everyone goes to college". It is far to expensive to be used as a litmus test for intelligence and work ethic, as it was in the past. Instead, we need to get some of the B and C students back into the trades. I'm not sure how to make this happen.
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I think the problem is the trades actually require physical work. Been there, done that. The first time some of these kids have to get in a crawl space that's just deep enough to move around but not deep enough to roll over, they'll be looking for another line of work. That or when they have to go into an attic when it's 90 outside, they'll be looking for another job. The trades pay well but by no means is it easy work and I think that's the biggest part of the problem. Hard to find people who actually want to work.