One would think, since I spent my career teaching college, that I’d sound off against the “no college, no problem” employer movement. After all, surveys prove that college educations pay off for workers over a lifetime. The Association of Public and Land Grant Colleges says that “College graduates are half as likely to be unemployed as their peers who only have a high school degree” and “Typical earnings for bachelor’s degree holders are 84% higher than those whose highest degree is a high school diploma.”
Fair enough, because without a degree most people are stuck in entry-level jobs all their lives. The no-college-no-problem model means that life experience can fill in for the degree. For other kids, a gap year makes sense … high school graduation, then a pause. So let’s make it fashionable for the kids to take a gap year or two, learning about the so-called real world. Encourage them to seek out something meaningful. Peace Corps. Americorps. Work with a non-profit. For how this might work, check out the proposal by Governor Wes Moore of Maryland for a “year of service.”
Some of the kids in that gap period might find a real career in the no-college-no-problem world. I’m thinking of the beginners that tag along with my plumber. They’re not ready to take on a job by themselves, but they see what hose goes into what socket and how to turn off the main plug to the barn. And they learn that my real plumber makes $54 an hour. Trade school, which gets short shrift in our society, is a tremendous way to make a life for yourself.
Other youngsters may take a beginner job, and find something they want to study. Maybe they’ll stumble into a greenhouse and learn about horticulture or an activist organization and find a cause to be passionate about. Then, we hope, they’ll find a role model and enter college with a sense of motivation. When it’s time to pick a major, they’ll have a clue of what they want to do. A motivated person will find a way to accomplished what they want.
To an extent, the problem is money. Many youngsters see their friends graduate with tens of thousands in debt. Some have degrees in subjects they don’t really care about. And, in many cases, the kids just aren’t interested in anything.
For too many years, we’ve marched our kids in lockstep from the high school graduation ceremony to the first day of college ceremony. At the same time, I’m conflicted when employers crow about their “no college degree needed” plans. I can see how it works for the boss who can pay less and offer fewer benefits but I’m not convinced it works out for society. For democracy. If our grammar schools and high schools were doing a better job of teaching, say, critical thinking, or history or even family budgeting, I would be more enthusiastic.
I worry that putting kids right into low-income jobs out of high school will make them more easily hoodwinked. They don’t have the context to understand how history can make fools of us all. And, don’t forget, they’re already voters.
Having met my share of Millenials and Gen Z kids, born in the 1980s to the 2010s, I know that they were raised with too much TV, too much fantasy, too much escapism. Before COVID, I knew a few families that didn’t have internet or TV. The kids went to the library, read books. Then came the lockdowns and on-line school. Virtual classrooms were the best work-around we could come up with and, like most work-arounds, it sorta worked for some kids. But, like all experiments, there’s a downside.
In some cases, they are sure that the media has lied to them all their lives and they have no trust in America, democracy, the electrical grid, or even nature itself. Others are sure the planet is toast and they’ll be dead before they find any kind of success or happiness. When I get a kid like that on my farm crew I work hard to find something … anything … that interests them. In a small community, we can introduce our young friends to role models for the weirdest, most independent jobs. Want to meet someone who re-built a forest on strip mine land by grazing sheep on it? Or someone who documents old-time musicians? Or a cabinet builder? Or a mail-order dynamo? A tool sharpener? I know that person and I’ll happily take a kid to meet them, just to see some enthusiasm.
I know one awesome kid that worked in newspapers and restaurants, took a college class each semester and took seven years to finish all her freshman classes. Then, catching on to the advantages of a degree, she burned through the next college years on scholarships, and is still burning through classes—both as a student and a teacher—for her doctorate.
Margot Ford McMillen farms near Fulton, Mo., and co-hosts “Farm and Fiddle” on sustainable ag issues on KOPN 89.5 FM in Columbia, Mo. Her latest book is “The Golden Lane: How Missouri Women Gained the Vote and Changed History.” Email: margotmcmillen@ gmail.com.
From The Progressive Populist, May 15, 2023
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