Preparing our Youth?
Add comment July 7th, 2008
Recently, I was looking over some past newspapers and I came across the article last week entitled “Poll: Schools not properly preparing kids” and it made me think of the overused adage “It takes a village…”
I’m curious to hear from others on their thoughts about what’s different about schools today versus when they were younger? Were the teachers more qualified? Did the jobs require less skill?
Another question. Who else was involved in your education?
Each day, teachers spend 6 to 7 hours during the fall, winter, and spring with our youth teaching the requirements as mandated by government. Those are the building blocks and many of the teachers I have met have worked hard to provide a great foundation to their students.
This year, I have been looking at building a deck in the back of my house. I considered building it myself, but my greatest fear is getting the frame in and grounded. If that’s not done properly, then the whole thing is going to collapse during some great summertime party. I’m going to leave this to someone who can be sure to do it properly. My job will be to add the rest.
With many more hours out of school, our youth have plenty of time to add to the foundation laid by the teachers. If that foundation is good, then we as parents, families, neighbors and community members can do what we can to make sure that our youth are truly prepared for the future of their dreams.
What can we do?
There are a number of ways to help. Getting involved in the many good organizations locally that serve the youth of our community is one great way. Working with your kids at home is another.
Maybe create job shadow experiences for them. Last year, I took my oldest to Giovanni’s to get an idea of what it would be like to be a chef. It was a great eye-opening experience that allowed him to see what he has to do to get that dream job.
Raising and educating a child is a huge job that we can’t just leave to only a few. Each of us provides a unique tool that our youth can use to become a success in our global economy.
