Wow. I just finished the majority of the book Profoundly Disconnected by Mike Rowe. If you can't handle statements that might not match your own, stop reading now. Otherwise, these are my uncensored thoughts on what I just read.
As a teacher I value education in each and every form, however I agree that we are doing a disservice to so many by focusing only on a college preparation path. Good jobs are not dictated by a piece of paper (that will rarely be acknowleged) that comes with tens to hundreds of thousands in debt; they are dictated by the ability to work hard, pay your bills, and know that your job isn't always on the line because of the advent of a new idea.
Why is it that vocational preparation is consistently pulled from school? I honestly have no answer and have disagreed with that decision from the very beginning. I think that every job should be respected especially for all of us who like to buy our food, drive our cars, have electricity 24/7, and not worry about how each of the items function. We should be encouraging our next generations to look at all of the options, but regrettably information on these "non traditional" paths are hard to find. How can we get into schools and move back towards a more diversified field of options considering the number of jobs that remain unfilled in skilled labor positions? How do we help support that college is not the only choice? How do we help our next generations reorient themselves into a working class?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with working hard, but somewhere we have forgotten that is an option.
I have no idea what the whole answers to these questions are, but I will say Mike Rowe and his team at mikeroweWorks is on the right track.
I fully support the team over at profoundlydisconnected.com
