Are kids preparing for a future that will never come?

My daughter and I talk about this. She is 11 with big plans. Unfortunately she has begun to tack on.."If the human race is still viable" to all of her statements about the future. I can't help but die a little when she says that. That at 11 she is looking around at the world and wondering if it will still be around by the time she is an adult. When I was 11 my biggest concern was if I would have anyone to play with when I went outside.

Good topic.

Of course it's not just school...its the whole set of expectations kids are raised with. But one particularly egregious example is the academic/university system for sure. It is beyond broken.

Right now a lot of people are still going to college because, despite the drawbacks, it still is perceived as being preferable to the alternative. This will change. The University as an idea is going to have to be totally revamped, but its so hidebound that what will probably happen is a whole bunch of universities will go bust. Not the Ivys but the mid- and lower-tier schools. And maybe states will even abandon state schools: sounds unbelievable but the fiscal situation is so completely grim that I see that as a very real possibility.

One thing has changed: In the old days a university was literally the only place to get much of the basic information and skills you needed. Now it is becoming easier than ever to do more and more of this nuts-and-bolts stuff from a distance or via the net. People say a university is more than just the information at lectures, and they are right, but without this, the benefits become a lot more intangible: "enrichment", "a social experience" "etc... is this sort of thing really going to be worth going into lifelong debt for most people? I expect in the long run, most people will train themselves in most specific skills via computer, etc. and spend only a very limited time physically on campus to do things like lab-work, etc. Liberal arts can basically be conducted totally remotely. This is the death-knell of the university system as we know it. Good riddance.

reply to post by Zakka


I think your views are a little skewed. Consider all of the children born in prehistory? Their lives were "brutish.. nasty and short!" in comparison... we have a few economic hiccups and its no longer worth being alive?
Wake up bro...

reply to post by IamJustanAmerican


I agree with you. Having easy access to tools for learning is the greatest gift anyone can be given.

I grew up twenty-five miles outside of a tiny town. My family was poor but everyone had the good sense not to beleaguer this fact, so I never knew I was poor. There was not much to do once schoolwork and chores were done, so reading became my passion. My parents could not afford to purchase books, gratefully, the library was my savior.

To this day, the library is the first place that I seek out, when moving to a new location. Years back my job kept me on the road. I found it easier to complete my daily reports at the nearest library. Just outside of the city in one area that I worked, was a tiny community library. It was the only place for many of the indigent children to have access to a computer. There was a thirty minute limit for the use of the computer and the waiting list was hours long.

It always amazed me how patient these children were waiting their turn, even though some knew that they may not even get a turn that day. I decided that I was going to buy another computer for the library to help the children. I was shocked when I approached the librarian to find out what I had to do to get another computer for the library, and she told me that the library was slated to be closed, because the city had decided that they could not afford to keep it running.

I was shocked and infuriated. It made no sense to me at all that they would close the only place in the entire area that offered a positive outlet for the children that lived in the vicinity. So I went to work. I left the library and started my route to the south of the library, because it was in the direction of the most businesses, and I presented myself, without appointment, to every business within an approximate six block area.

I simply explained that the library was slated to be closed and that when it was, that the only other buildings of interest in the area was theirs. I made a direct appeal to the business owners for financial support of the library as a wonderful tax deduction and a security measure for the safety of their business and their employees.

I was selling something without proof that they were in danger but it worked. The locally business invested enough money into the library that they were able to expand the library and expand the hours of operation. They also added a computer wing that allowed the children to have access to the computers for lessons and for fun. The children had enough computers that they did not have to wait for days to have computer access.

I tell this for two reasons. The most important is that communities sometimes have to take control and do what is best for their community without expecting the government to to do what is best or what is right.

Second, education and learning often comes from books, whether that book is found in the classroom, a library or the internet. The largest portion of preparation comes from learning, and books are still a great source for achieving that goal.

I prepare everyday for a world that I may not see. My days are rapidly winding down so my visions of the future is in much smaller increments, days and months, more than years.

Our children in many ways are our future, so it is our responsibility to prepare a path for their journey and their responsibility will be not just to themselves but to the generation to follow.

No one is guaranteed a tomorrow but that should not stop us from preparing for one.

Originally posted by jackladdis
reply to post by Zakka

 

I think your views are a little skewed. Consider all of the children born in prehistory? Their lives were "brutish.. nasty and short!" in comparison... we have a few economic hiccups and its no longer worth being alive?
Wake up bro...

Yes. My oldest son had a 94-96% average in Physics, Chemistry, Calculus and Computer Programming, and 90% average in English for first year college. He's intending on returning with some reduction to his student loan first, and wants to take physics. He has a future.

Whatever is coming, we have to view things as: 1. manmade, and 2. cylces. If a cycle is so bad it takes out many people, then nothing we do that is positive now, to shine our light or use our gifts will be wasted there, in the next step of our progression. So we should not put off the things inside us, our childhood or adult dreams or even retraining, when economies slow down, or starting a business, or getting local groups going for projects.

If its manmade, the economy is, HAARP is, and there seems to be a nasty negative empire, fourth reicht trying to pull strings, we need to wake up.

While on a surface level we can speak up, say no, protest, write in, fire them, and then Non Cooperation with their laws in numbers.

Under the radar, in every town, we need to keep going. Those kids being trained need to be our: doctors, teachers, physicists, mechanics, our social workers, counselors, artists, our farmers, horticulturists, scientists, not theirs. We need to establish our own working economy that can exist in a monied system and without a monied system, clean energy, HHO fuels, biofuels, plant resin platics, and papers, back up electricity, I have a thread on this, making hydrogen fuel at home, and some think its too much energy input, its actually overunity, but it doesnt matter, there are so many clean conventional energy solutions, from solar/wind, to parabolic mirrors, and stirling engines,to tesla coils and geomagnetic, to earth energy and batteries, which I included on the thread, to wave devices, some simple, I found a video of some poor folk who constructed one. I should add it as well.

We have a future, beyond the confines of this artificial society if we communicate with each other and start to buy, sell trade with each other.

Schooling is always going to be important.

Basket weaving is going to make a come-back!

We are all going to wish we knew what to do with our hands!

well my oldest som is 17 now and starting collage aug 23 air engineering pluse is making most days 200$ a day 6 days a week on charter boats .
His plan is ((( wich i advised him after hearing it .Get the certification for that then advanced degree to get into the admin part of the field as theres higher pay there .and to back that up because he is already working on boats get a captain license and use that as his contuning job wile going to school at the same time working up to cruse ships or freighters or some such .
Finaly last but not least many years agaio he got involved in music and at this point can play electric gutra regular one baritone trumpet flute .(( strang combo ))0 anyway his music is almost pro category now and he makes his own songs (bar quilt alest ).
And has a 800k annuity to boot . so as long as this world is no worse then now he chances of success are well near 99% house kids cars what ever he want even wealth will be his baring any unforeseen thing .
my belief is children should never be as good as parents they should be better learn from my mistakes learn from my weakness and Dont repeat it .
so tell me ((im homeless now most of the time barly getting by whose success is this ? lol
maybe im just as good as you are hu? after all he is who he is because of my SUCCESS as a father .

I've thought about this same subject and it is hard to take a positive attitude.

What did my college experience give to me? One thing it gave me was a high point beyond high school (think Al Bundy). In addition, I gained many skills and insights, most of which paid off at one point or another.

It all comes down to making money with your education. Make it pay you back, I keep trying to.

I also pursued interests outside of college that helped me make money. I don't devalue those skills I learned outside of college because I learned them myself.