Are your high schools getting an influx of kids believing that trades = easy money + no education needed? : Teachers

A lot of the good trades jobs are actually pretty math intensive. Geometry for carpenters, algebra for electricians etc. But I guess these students are counting on an illustrious career as a grunt day laborer

Lol what? !tradies maybe I've been half assing it but I really don't use anything past 6th grade math for either carpentry or electrical work.

It is interesting you mention this! I had a great conversation with someone a few weeks ago who is a plumber, and he talked about the intricate trigonometry he has to do by hand on the job site when the computer is not available. Amazing.

He blew smoke up your butt. Phones exist, he had one, he used it.

The dismay my students have over hearing they absolutely have to be proficient with ohms law to be an electrician or HVAC tech is overwhelming

I have never meant a single sparkie under the age of 35 who can do ohms by hand. None of them.

I have nothing solid to base this on other than vibes, but I think that pushing “college readiness” yearly starting before they even hit puberty undermines faith in college. Like if we're having them paint banners for various high class famous colleges and then send them into a math class they're failing because algebra isn't clicking for them and then on to an English class where they didn't do the assigned reading because the words made no sense… are we not telling them that college is both mandatory and unattainable at the same time?

The Trades represent an attempt to escape the trap. They're where you go to succeed if you suck at meaningless BS schoolwork.

Reasonable comment, heavily downmarseyd lol.

I don't think they're thinking "trade school." They're thinking on-the-job training and their uncle or brother-in-law is going to get them a job. We (as responsible adults) think tradespeople are well trained professionals, but there's a large subset of tradespeople who want to do the quickest and cheapest job possible for the most money. THAT is what high school students think the tradespeople do. THAT is why that's what they want to do.

God what a c*nt.

There is also a large subset of "tradespeople" without training...some of them stand outside Home Depot at dawn. To that add the people who learn enough welding to fix a plow or who wired their own pole barn without it burning down yet. They tend to be hired by contractors because they work cheaply.

U know it bb.

Yep. This one kid stood out to me for that. I know his mom and he would skip class and say it didn't matter because he was going to work for his dad when he graduated. Just assumed he'd graduate. Out of curiosity I asked his mom what her husband did that he could just hire on family members. He worked for a construction company- not a boss in any way. But this kid decided he could just work at dad's company and VOILA!! Smh

And? Unless his dad is a complete and total failure his recommendation is going to carry a lot of weight.

Also, the true way to “succeed” in trades is to work under someone until you can own your business when your body can't do the work anymore. You have to have a basic grasp of educational skills to do that. Owning your own business is no joke, and trades are often rotating doors of employees. My sister's boyfriend is a plumber and it's common for men to be employed for a week or so and then be let go because they have low work ethic. It's not easy. It's just a different type of difficult.

!r-slurs come get your boy.

Tradesmen make more than you (which you lot b-word and moan about to no end). They are literally more successful than you.

Mechanics make good money but it's hard work and these days it's way different since a lot of the cars have electronics components up the wazoo to the point anyone bad at math or tech is not going to be able to fix many issues as a mechanic for the newer vehicles.

Oh look another r-slur. You buy a fricking code reader/sensor tester and plug it in. It then does all the math for you, because why the frick wouldn't it?

You can really noootice that this guy has never worked on his own car.

Oh no not the dreaded "Check engine light" what could it be now?

Whatever the reader says it is

Yeah these kids need to go work at a lube monkey job for a while and see if they like it.

I never planned on being a mechanic as a career, working as a lube tech was just a high school/college job, but my back and feet ached everyday and the skin on my hands are still fricked from the oil decades later, and I ended that job at 23. Now that I'm in my 40s, I understand why all the older guys there were burnouts hooked to pain pills. Their bodies were breaking down but they couldn't find another gig.

lol no.