Opting out of college for blue-collar life was the headline that caught my eyes as I was browsing an NPR website. The article was so interesting and went in-depth information of how some student do not belong in college. Kip Beaudoin, a guidance counselor in Kingsford, Mich, public high school is encouraging the high school students not to seek higher education, if they think it is not for them.
The reason that some educators think the increased college dropouts is the cause of pressure on the students to follow the college track, and they think they might be better suited to other options.
A chemistry teacher at Jefferson community college on Louisville, KY, surprised me with his strong words saying that ‘he often encounters students who should have been told long ago that they don’t belong in college.’
Is this another trick that the blue-collar employee seekers are using to get more students to dropout to fill in those blue-collar positions that have faced a shortage of staff? Or it is the thinking of the intellects went wrong.
It might had been possible in the past that some of those dropouts made it a good life, but is it the same now to take that risk when technology is leading us into the wonders of the future to be without higher education? The economists have cautioned that skipping college is much riskier to day than it was in the past. “It is a bit fool’s gold to think that you can drop out of school to day and …do particularly well in the US economy in the long run,” says Harvard economist Larry Katz. But the question is why some educators are suggesting that some students are better off some other options rather than college? And why some students agree that going college is waste of time. Rob Macdonald from Waltham, Mass, wishes he had been better advised; he tried college, but quit and left with $40,000 in dept.
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7504120
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3 comments:
The post you wrote was intersting. I know that college is not for everyone and I think now a days more people are realizing it. That not everyone is fit to be a student and theirs nothing wrong with that. I don't think educators should be telling students in high school that they are not cut out for college. That is rude. Their is no justification for teachers to do that to a student. It is not their place.
It's a hard call to really know why people are pushing that college is not for everyone for the whole idea about blue collar jobs. They may really want to higher younger people so they don't have to pay them very much. I just hope that everyone makes their own decision about college and if they want to go they should and they should not let money stop them.
The article presented the facts and covered both sides of the story well. I agree that college is not for everybody or at the least not immediatly after high school. I disagree with the thought of a guidance counselor selling the idea to many impressionable high school students that they would be a better with a trade skill than an education. I think both skills are equally valuable in different situations. I would consider the economists to be an expert on the subject and I would value their findings.
As an individual who thought "an education isn't everything," I've learned that it is. I dropped out of school when I was 16, and later obtained my GED. But, that wansn't until I was 33! I couldn't get advancements in jobs, credibility was less than low, and the opportunities to buy a house, go on vacation, wear nice clothes, and provide for three children was not a reality without an education.
Now, I'm the biggest proponent of education, and think that any teacher that would instruct an individual NOT to go onto higher education is a a moron.
Education is everything. If you want to get ahead in life, as well as gain invaluable knowledge, you're going to have to get a higher education. There is nothing wrong with learning, and gaining some insight into different areas of interest.
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