I refuse to send my kids to the indoctrination centers called college. We are going to send them to trade school to be plumbers.
JoMa
(Me? I tried to convince my daughter to take up welding!)
“I refuse to send my kids to the indoctrination centers called college. We are going to send them to trade school to be plumbers.”
Not to put down plumbers, as I’ve never had one step foot in my house, and I just finished (hopefully) what would have been a $10,000 plumbing repair requiring HazMat (due to a sewage spill) at a friend’s house and also did a $3,000 repair of my own a few years back. Total cost for tools and parts was roughly $400 for both.
I’ve also made damn sure that my boys can do any repairs that I can do, including plumbing, electrical, AC, and automotive.
But, having said that, there are steps that we took to mitigate the corrosive effects of college, at least with our kids.
1) We would only pay for going to college as commuters. Meaning they still live at home. We were fortunate in that there were acceptable colleges in driving range where we live in Texas. If not, we would have at least considered moving.
2) If the kids did want to live on campus, sorry, no dice - they pay every penny. We wouldn’t pay any part of it, not even the the part we would have have spend on a commuter school. Obviously co-signing loans for these schools is out too. And since very few kids have the resources to afford going away to college these days, that was effectively our way of vetoing it, without having to flat-out say no.
3) We would only pay for junior college for the first 2 years, which, again, is almost always commuters. If they wanted to start at a 4-year school, even a commuter school, they would have to pay their full way. Doing so gets them out of the first 2 years of 4-year colleges where most of the indoctrination takes place (much of it due to peer pressure). By the time they are juniors, their classmates are more serious and if there are politically orientated cliques developed, they don’t include my kids.
4) Needless to say, if they wanted a degree in the ‘Humanities’, more power to them, but not on our dime.
Nothing’s perfect, but these worked for us. Obviously they didn’t go to Harvard, but they are doing just fine. Also, for public colleges in Texas, at least, if you start at a public Junior college, get decent grades, and an Associate’s Degree, you are guaranteed admission in a public 4-year college - not necessary a top-tier 4-year college, but a 4-year college for sure - that is state law here. I’m sure some, if not many, other states have the same type of laws.
You are like a jewish mother forcing her son to be a doctor
Did you think to ask your kids what they want?
Maybe they know more than you do
Good—we need plumbers, they make a good living, and colleges are indoctrination centers.
I hope of course that they have some say in what they are sent to study, however.
We’re with you. DD wanted to go to a nearby Christian college with a well-known business program. She got grants, scholarships and worked two jobs and paid for most of it herself. She’s now in management.
DS1 and DS2 didn’t like school. The older one has a service tech job but wants to start his own excavating company, based on things he learned from helping Dad on the farm. The younger one is currently in tech school.
At my job I’ve often noticed how much the people with skilled trades learned from their dads and-or grandpa’s and-or uncles and-or in the military.
Good for you. I’ve said that here dozens of times. A trade means one will never starve.