Where to next?
Throughout their early educational career (elementary through high school), it seems that children and teens are being pushed towards the college route after graduating from high school. While this is a seemingly good idea, as an educated society is sure to be innovative and successful, it is unrealistic and should not occur. Let us focus directly on high schools for this discussion. Setting up the foundation that allows students to go off to college is definitely important and high schools should do just that, but other options need to be made available. And when I say made available, I say it because there seems to be pressure and expectation for student to go to college, but I mean these other options need to be made known to the students. I do not have to list other options to pursue other than college, but a few are picking up a trade, vocational school, apprenticeships, the military, religious learning, and traveling.
Sending each high school graduate to college will eventually saturate the job market with people looking for work. With a supply of workers shifted positively and a demand for workers that is unaffected, there will be a surplus of those on a job search. Not only will unemployment rise, but society will lose out on other critical jobs to keep the natural flow of the nation running. Say everyone went to college, soon there would be no car mechanics, no plumbers, no electricians, no farmers, no landscapers, no masons, no welders, etc. The people who hold these honorable jobs truly are the backbone of our country and if there was a deficit in the supply of these workers, our nation would hurt.
Like I mentioned above, this push to send kids to college is unrealistic. We all know the saying “college isn’t for everyone,” and this is true! For some it may not make financial sense to attend college, or they are following their passion, or maybe they are entering a family job. In any case, it’s best to set up students for success by giving them every opportunity to decide what their next steps in life will be.
My high school did an amazing job at displaying all the options for what to do after high school. There were programs set up that allowed those interested in trade jobs, apprenticeships, and vocational jobs to step away from the classroom and get hand on experience. Half of these students’ school day would be spent getting on the job training, and most came out of high school with jobs due to this program. Another alternative to college is the military, and my high school offered JROTC to all students. This is a good first step to a military career if a student is interested in pursuing one.
Students should not be pressured into doing any certain thing when it comes to after graduation paths. Where one path is well suited for one student, it may not be for another. If all options are laid out for students, if the students can find out for themselves what they like, and if there is no outside pressure, then everyone would be happy and society would benefit.
How did your high school handle preparing your next steps after graduation? Were there options? Did you seem to be pushed towards one path?