When I was 14 years old I engaged a vocational school maintained by the Brazilian national railroad company. There I learned a lot of metal working including w

When I was 14 years old I engaged a vocational school maintained by the Brazilian national railroad company. There I learned a lot of metal working including welding and operating lathes. Spent 3 years there and ended up as a certified maintenance electrician for diesel-electric locomotives (never worked in railroads after that but several skills were useful both at professional and hobby situations). Now the laws are more aligned with the USA and that school is closed. Such laws are said to be more "protective" as if teenagers are incapable of handling sharp tools. Brazil wastes no opportunity to dumb down.