Auxiliary real life education (real life job skills) for high schoolers & some college students

Kids need to have a choice of between extracurricular activities (like sports, band, musical) and something like a science club, electronics, computer, chemistry club & business club - and the point of the business club would be to work with all the other clubs and try to find ways to make the clubs "profitable" (read self sustaining and possibly make profit for new equipment and possibly scholarships). I've come up with about 20 ideas which local students could all make use of local resources, some being a yearly business that continues from one class to another - teaching each new class the skills and possibly expanding the enterprise if some students want to stay on, increase output, produce new things, etc - and in the process, they teach those below them this process - it is like a never-ending apprenticeship by people learning on the job - but the thing is, this all has to start with some "mentors" to help things get going and possibly some over-sight by some local college's teacher program (so there is over-sight by teachers who are educated in the specific "topic".

I spend a lot of time reading reviews from about 5-6 different sites for businesses and it is a very sad state of affairs when reading these reviews. It is easy to pick out the compaies that buy reviews and there are actually algorithms that can detect these now, but for some reason Google, Yelp, Angie's List don't use them which really makes me wonder why they don't want honest reviews. If I have excellent service, I write a rave review and often give contact details within the review - as well as with negative ones (sometimes very bad) but sometimes refrain due to the 'mentality of the company".


I'd like to see something along the lines of a "DO" (which is where people left for 1/2 day to work in my high shcool, but it was usually as a cashier or something - it was basically to skip classes) but with an actual apprenticeship and learning going on within the job. It could be the first 2 hours of school, or the last 2 hours, it would depend upon when the student was needed, their class schedule, sports if they participate, etc.

Now some of you may be thinking that these would be isolated to individual school districts, but I think that would be the bigget mistake that could be made IF the goal is to help students learn as much as possible. It could be country wide, cross county - it all depends on the geographical size. If a student is die-hard into learning glass blowing and there is a "student business/course/class" a county over, then I see no reason that they should be kept out of that class as long as they can provide transportation ( or if local buses can drop off at district line - and have co-students pick them up, or shuttles). There are lots of ways to accomplish this.

If the businesses turn a profit in the county and the graduating students want to continue the line of work, then there should be ways of helping them find start their own business, or to continue as a mentor as they build their client base for a set amount of time (say 6 moths or a year).

It has become clear to me that unless you are "VERY SPECIAL" and have been given a leg up in some way, the chances of you not being a wage slave, even if you do everything by the book (get good grades, work hard, extra carriculats, jobs, etc), get in less trouble than the "special people" are extremely slim. There are always going to be the people on the forum who chime in and say "Well I did it, I was doing 1/2lb of coke a week for 5 years, turned my life around and I have more $$ than I know what to do with" - or some variation - "pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Over 10 years of deep analytical observation of how businesses have evolved both locally, regionally and nationally, all show that most everyone has had some MAJOR help along the way whether they want to admit it or not, some people just want to think they are so special that they did it dem'slefs and ju dust too dumb to be likz me. It's either that or they are involved in some unethical business practices or industries which many people would never consider spending a dollar in, let alone working or owning a business in that industry.

So how can we help our kids?

The above post is about what I think needs to happen, and the following is where I am coming from and what makes me believe that it needs to happen.



I went to an above average public school (as per standardized testing - and we weren't taught the tests) and a respectable state school (not one of the large primary state schools, but a regional one of about 12,000 students - but fully accredited in all colleges/subjects). Now coming from schools like this I would expect to have a good understanding of how the real world works, how government works, social services, what state legislature does (requirements, how to effect change, etc) and especially how business works as that is was my major in college. I can luckily say that I do have a good understanding of a lot of these things but that is almost ENTIRELY due to studying and reading things which interested me (basically b/c they weren't covered in classes). This is tripply true (or many times more) when it came to computer knowledge (major /wn business) because of self motivated learning/teaching/reading.

When I talked to my classmates about what I had thought was common knowledge, I was astounded that they seemed to have no clue or business sense unless they had the privileged of being involved in a family business and then it was often very limited to a very specific area.

What I have found is that from the age when children are allowed to legally work (some as early as 12 with stipulations, and 16 full time) most all people are employees who are worked to the bone, the employers run them at 100% for as long as they can (and try to increase their 100% by inducing fear and other manipulative things), so they work themselves until they are almost breaking or do break - and this is still while in high school or the first year or 2 of college. Employers see them as disposable - always someone ready to fill that minimum wage, no benefits job, even if the employee was an excellent (one of the best they had ever had and hoped for a career in the company) - it makes no difference, they work them like a dog. IT IS MODERN DAY SLAVERY because no one can live on these wages that they are being paid (minimum wage was $4.75 when I started and rent was close to $460 for a one bedroom + electricity - electric heat/water heater - about $140/month) which was more than my monthly check after taxes and I lived in a DUMP in a poor town.

there are courses kids can take in high school that do some of this. they are called co-op courses, where the student actually works at a job (typically for no pay, and doing scut work in many cases). this gives them an idea of what the job entails in real life.

Almost 7 million jobs in the Trades are available Right Now.

Kids need to learn welding, carpentry, pipe fitting, electrical, HVAC and many others.
Everyone is so worried about " OMG I have to go to college and get a degree to get a good job !! "
No you don't. Just be willing to get and do some hard work.

originally posted by: generik

there are courses kids can take in high school that do some of this. they are called co-op courses, where the student actually works at a job (typically for no pay, and doing scut work in many cases). this gives them an idea of what the job entails in real life.

They also have these in college as well with some of them being paid.

a reply to: DAVID64

Forget 911--College is the biggest scam of the 21st century.

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

I've seen several of these types of posts lately. This is already happening. Schools are doing this.

In our area during the senior year you can get paid internships at local companies. There are business days where you talk to local businesses about what they are looking for. Some of the businesses hire right out of high school depending on what skills courses you took in high school (welding/construction etc.)

All the seniors must take a life class which is basically business 101 along with some home budgeting info.
There is also a class called future business leaders of America.

There are significantly more offerings now than ever before, but the gig is still the same. The kids that put the most in will get the most out. If you do the bare minimum don't expect things to fall in your lap. If you hustle, work hard, think hard, keep educating yourself you will go far.

Yep. Just keep educating ypurself. Spend your entire life in school so you can keep up with a pack of rats.

But... but, liberal arts won't make me a millionaire ?

I think high school SHOULD BE preliminary (basic) college and the kids should be able to choose what field they want to go into and only have to take advanced math classes (and so forth) if they actually need it for their job. What is the point of teaching them stuff they might not need?

I do agree that ALL public education should be more about actual life skills with stuff like math and other stuff more in the background. If they can't come right out of high school and get a decent job without going to college, the education system is failing them miserably. We have a public education system in the US that was designed to turn out good factory workers. That's so out of date now it's not even funny. Most of those jobs are long gone and you actually have to be able to use your brain to get a good job now. Period. Public Education in the US needs a massive overhaul. These privatized colleges and so forth are just vultures sucking money that these kids don't have to give them.

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

In general, I agree to this: I feel that there is a difference between learning about something in a book, and actually doing it. I would have taken up the opportunity to gain experience with my computer skills while working at an unpaid internship (been there, done that). My school did offer shop classes, as it was a farming town: You had to know things such as woodworking, welding, and basic car maintenance

However, I don't feel (as a musician that does play somewhat professionally) that a kid should have to choose between doing something that they have a passion for as opposed to an unpaid job. I could have had my shoe in the door of a job had I gone into the robotics team instead of band, but I don't regret that in the slightest. At that age, kids are stressed, and the arts offers a way to alleviate that stress (which will come in handy as a life skill).

I offer a theoretical hybrid plan:
1. For part of the day, kid goes to school and does regular classes.
2. Other part of the day, kid works an unpaid/minimal pay job, and gradually works up the number of hours (maybe as a freshman start them off with 2 hours, working up to 4 by senior year).
3. For the arts themselves, start those classes about 6:30pm/7:00pm (I play in 5 groups now; all of them start late and run 2 hours apiece).
4. Reduce the amount of homework as they get older (and spend more time on the job).