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I can't help but consider the wider background of this story. Across the country, high schools have been cutting shop classes. Administrators push 4-year colle

by aazaa 7y ago

I can't help but consider the wider background of this story. Across the country, high schools have been cutting shop classes. Administrators push 4-year college as the only viable option. Anything else is increasingly viewed as irresponsible advice. At the same time, 4-year college costs have been skyrocketing. Students are taking on levels of debt that the previous generation would have thought obscene. Meanwhile, the breadth of degrees that can reasonably be expected to service the debt of a 4-year college stint, let alone earn a living afterwards, appears to be shrinking. Just because some degrees are currently in high demand doesn't mean that will be the case in 1, 2, or 5 years. Tech recessions can be brutal given how leveraged the booms are. At the center of all of this is automation in numerous forms. The changes we've seen so far will only accelerate. There's little evidence to suggest that today's economies will be up to the challenge of providing economically viable pathways for young people starting out. The myth of higher education as the pathway to a middle class lifestyle has all the hallmarks of an idea that will die a slow, agonizing death. We're utterly unprepared for what comes next.

wcunning 7y ago
My local community college's welding program includes classes on robotic MIG welding, automated sub-arc welding and CNC laser welding. These things are progressing in the places where people need to learn it, but it does slowly sort it into fewer and fewer people.
ryandrake 7y ago
> Administrators push 4-year college as the only viable option. Anything else is increasingly viewed as irresponsible advice. At the same time, 4-year college costs have been skyrocketing. Something tells me these things are related... My old man taught wood shop in a high school. Year after year, there was less and less demand/attendance. To stay securely employed, as he was getting closer to retirement he pivoted over to teaching drafting and then CAD which had tons of interest and were supported by administration. By the time he retired the wood and metal shop classes were gone for good. Pretty sad and worrying to think that since then an entire generation has gone through that school with no opportunity to learn how to actually make a physical good with their hands. We have YouTube now if we want to learn, and it’s a great resource, but it’s hard not to think something has been lost.
- vkou 7y ago
  > Pretty sad and worrying to think that since then an entire generation has gone through that school with no opportunity to learn how to actually make a physical good with their hands. Welcome to globalism? 98% of the physical goods you buy are made in the developing world, there's not much point in acquiring these skills here.
  - rm_-rf_slash 7y ago
    A crappy assemble-at-home Target organizer costs like $20 and probably cost a fraction of that to manufacture, but a fancy artisanal lacquered organizer made by the hobbyists across town can be sold for several times the cost of supplies and labor. But a lot of folks feel the squeeze so they buy the crappy Target one instead.
    - vkou 7y ago
      If artisanal, hand-crafted, built-to-spec, lacquered organizers became a big enough business, there will be, before the year is out, a school in Vietnam that will train thousands of people how to build them, by hand, to-spec, artisanally for <$1/hour.
    - toastermoster 7y ago
      This reminds me of my neighbor who had recently retired and began a side business making furniture in his garage. He was just looking to make a little beer money, but his business grew quickly just through word of mouth and he was complaining to me that now it was more of a job than he had before he retired. He was thinking about shutting the whole thing down.
- PorterDuff 7y ago
  I wonder to what extent insurance issues have driven the death of shop classes. I have no current knowledge, but it wouldn't surprise me if modern day chemistry class has veered away from actually touching dangerous items.
- ReallyAnonymous 7y ago
nullc 7y ago
> Across the country, high schools have been cutting shop classes. I went to the sonoma county fair a few months ago, the student exhibits had a section with welding. There was a lot of pretty good looking work there.

by aazaa 7y ago

wcunning 7y ago

My local community college's welding program includes classes on robotic MIG welding, automated sub-arc welding and CNC laser welding. These things are progressing in the places where people need to learn it, but it does slowly sort it into fewer and fewer people.

ryandrake 7y ago

> Administrators push 4-year college as the only viable option. Anything else is increasingly viewed as irresponsible advice. At the same time, 4-year college costs have been skyrocketing. Something tells me these things are related... My old man taught wood shop in a high school. Year after year, there was less and less demand/attendance. To stay securely employed, as he was getting closer to retirement he pivoted over to teaching drafting and then CAD which had tons of interest and were supported by administration. By the time he retired the wood and metal shop classes were gone for good. Pretty sad and worrying to think that since then an entire generation has gone through that school with no opportunity to learn how to actually make a physical good with their hands. We have YouTube now if we want to learn, and it’s a great resource, but it’s hard not to think something has been lost.

vkou 7y ago
> Pretty sad and worrying to think that since then an entire generation has gone through that school with no opportunity to learn how to actually make a physical good with their hands. Welcome to globalism? 98% of the physical goods you buy are made in the developing world, there's not much point in acquiring these skills here.
- rm_-rf_slash 7y ago
  A crappy assemble-at-home Target organizer costs like $20 and probably cost a fraction of that to manufacture, but a fancy artisanal lacquered organizer made by the hobbyists across town can be sold for several times the cost of supplies and labor. But a lot of folks feel the squeeze so they buy the crappy Target one instead.
  - vkou 7y ago
    If artisanal, hand-crafted, built-to-spec, lacquered organizers became a big enough business, there will be, before the year is out, a school in Vietnam that will train thousands of people how to build them, by hand, to-spec, artisanally for <$1/hour.
  - toastermoster 7y ago
    This reminds me of my neighbor who had recently retired and began a side business making furniture in his garage. He was just looking to make a little beer money, but his business grew quickly just through word of mouth and he was complaining to me that now it was more of a job than he had before he retired. He was thinking about shutting the whole thing down.
PorterDuff 7y ago
I wonder to what extent insurance issues have driven the death of shop classes. I have no current knowledge, but it wouldn't surprise me if modern day chemistry class has veered away from actually touching dangerous items.
ReallyAnonymous 7y ago

nullc 7y ago

> Across the country, high schools have been cutting shop classes. I went to the sonoma county fair a few months ago, the student exhibits had a section with welding. There was a lot of pretty good looking work there.