<p>It seems that the goal of every high school has become to send every kid to college. theres the cliche that “education is the key to a better life”, and it is, but i feel like we have such a narrow definition of education that has been shaped by snobbery. I graduated high school in the class of 2011, and i feel like we looked down upon anyone who wasn’t going off to college (i was guilty of this as well), and when someone drops out, we think less of them (in general). Teachers push every kid to go to college and get an education for a “better life”, but i think that this is the reason for the problems facing higher education. We talk about underemployment as if it is because of a bad economy, and in many cases it is, but i think that the primary reason for this is because now we have a ton of college educated adults who were pushed to go to college but really just wanted to be a waiter, or a plumber, or a barista. We NEED plumbers! We WANT people who know how to make us a great cup of coffee in the morning! We WANT/NEED a waiter or waitress to bring us our food. but now many of these people have massive school debt. That plumber who spent thousands of dollars on a college degree could have spent the time he spent in college learning about plumbing, becoming a better plumber and educating himself in a non-traditional way. That Barista could have avoided having that debt if only in high school his teachers had said you can be a great barista if that is what you want! devote your time and energy to learning about coffee and pursue what you want, instead of saying you have to go to college to be a doctor or lawyer,being a barista isn’t a “good job”. some jobs may not pay as well. some jobs may not be as crucial to society, BUT THATS OK! We will have plumbers, waiters, janitors, and Baristas anyway, so why pressure them to amass debt in the meantime. I could harp on this forever but it would make my argument too dense. What do you guys think about this issue?</p>
<p>There is no single actor to be blamed for the college bubble. Perhaps high schools have a role to play but they are by no means the only ones.</p>
<p>I certainly agree. My high school is putting a lot of pressure on kids to go to college. I mean. I am not an anti-education person, but there are several college-bound students at my high school that lack any idea of what they will do in their future, they just want to “go to college.” Not to mention that my school is also pressuring the lower kids, those who lack proper study habits and work ethics, to go for a four-year degree as soon as possible. This is just a recipe for disaster. The kids that do not know what they want from a college education may end up wasting about four or five years, along with several thousand dollars on an endeavor they have no clue why they attempted in the first place. The lower ones may end up crashing and burning their way through college, possibly even put on academic probation and kicked out.</p>
<p>Just spoke w a hs guidance counselor. She said they have a lot of pressure from administration to get their kids to go to 4 year colleges. I was advocating comm college & she said they are discouraged from doing so. High income area & The college sending rates directly effect home values…</p>
<p>The problem isn’t just the push to educate everybody. That is only a response to an economic situation. In most other countries, there are strict laws concerning the minimum wage and benefits so that even plumbers and baristas can earn a living wage and support their families. For example, my uncle knows a young woman in Canada who is a cashier at a large grocery chain. She earns more than what a public school teacher does in this country, she has several weeks paid vacation each year, health care throught Canada’s universal health care system, and plenty of sick leave, family leave, and other benefits that even “good” jobs for college graduates here don’t offer. Over several years, she will probably be promoted and there is a good chance that she will eventually be a store manager, with a good, well-paying, challenging career that would allow her to buy a house, raise a family, take nice vacations, and give her kids great opportunities. She does not have a college degree. This is NOT possible in the United States.</p>