i was hanging out with my 16 y.o. nephews christmas eve and i was trying to get a feel for what kind of stuff they were interested in and what kind of tools they needed. since their father is a sleeper chasing alcoholic, they look to me to for mechanical advice. anyways i asked them what kind of machinery they got to learn on in school and they told me there was no shop class anymore.  no lathes, drill presses, or planers.   no welders, torches, engine lathes, milling machines. no vo-ag programs. no auto shop. non of that stuff. the only thing they had to offer is drafting.
10 years ago all that stuff was there. is this a sign of the times? i'm not saying that after high school we should all be all be welders, mechanics, carpenters, or machinists but don't you some of that stuff would be useful later in life? hell every time i'm home i use the welder for something.
i think i'm turning into my dad. what in the world are they teaching kids these days?.....seriously

i remember when dad drove a truck he would drive across west texas, the deserts of arizona and new mexico, all the way to la and back to eastern virginia with a toolbox, a few spare parts and some mechanical and electrical skills. he didn't have a cell phone or a gps. in some cases he didn't have power steering or air conditioning. it seems like we've gotten sissified as a culture. nobody wants to get their hands dirty nor do they want to use any kind of thought or creativity.

-johnny- wrote on Dec 27^th, 2008 at 12:11am:


It does suck..  and it sure has changed.   The No Child Left Behind Legislation has hampered creativity in the schools.  Schools are required to teach only the essential curriculum and many school systems cut out extras like music, the arts etc to spend more time on core subjects like math , reading etc. 

  For example, in north carolina,  cursive writing is not considered essential.  They 'sort of ' teach it in third grade but it isn't required.  So if you ask some high school teachers in my area they will tell you that many of their students don't really have a 'signature'

School just doesn't seem fun anymore and I worry about some kids who could be very successful if they were given more opportunites to pursue hobbies which could eventually become a career.  I think the growing drop out rate and hopefully the creation of more educational opportunites for diverse learners will be an interesting trend to watch

Its sad, but I send my kids to a private school just so that they can   have fun at school and be kids and of course learn at the same time.  Won't be able to afford college but......

kelly

Rolo, be happy your son can take Spanish.... it is one of the most used languages in the world.... and if the immigrants (legal / illegal) have no interest / esparation to learn the language of the hosting country, oh well what can you do(?)..... only get angry..... and frustrated...
In most of the German spiking countries in Europe, we face some what the same problem, even though the School systems are deferent, the diminishing qualitative /  quantitative of fields, are the same as  in the USA (the kids do study new field and modern skills, but miss on basic skills), the (questionable) wish to try and satisfy the needs of every kid is not possible, so long as the parents do not step in and take some responsibility, and the system supports it (political level) kids of (most) immigrants from the Balkan, have problems in schools due to lake of proper support from home, due to lingual differences..... the (one can say) refusal to try and assimilate in the hosting country, and the disinterest of spiking the hosting country language, hinder the kids ability to advance properly in the schools and martial that should be covered / year and hinder with this fact the proper advance of my kids,  and that is what disturbs me...... the political level try’s to be “nice” to all and try’s to be social and understanding, and at the same time reduces it own “citizen kids” the right for better education, I think its called integration.... I call it failieur......  and the price will be paid somewhere along the way.....  but for the USA friends, you need to get used to the new horizons’ and the spirit of change in you home land.... to a very social / liberal time.... so most likely change will come..... just wonder what route it will take.......
Michael

-johnny- wrote on Dec 27^th, 2008 at 12:11am:

Insurance and litigation.

They still have that out here, both in the town I grew up in (Stevens Point) and where the kids now go to school out in the country (Wittenberg).

I think it's necessary here due to the economy of WI.

Here in Canada there is still an active "shop" program in the public high school system. Not every school has one, but at least one school in every area has one, so that students with an interest in industrial arts can go to that school and get that training.

The high school my son attended had a full wood shop which taught complete house construction and cabinet making as well as a complete metal fabrication shop and an auto shop. The auto shop received cars and diagnostic equipment and tools donated from the Honda auto factory down the road to train the youth.

My son ended up working in an automotive repair shop all thru his high school years and being a hands on kid he built a wood racing boat in our back yard from plans off the internet(and his wood shop skills).

He went on to college and graduated as a CNC prgramming technician and has a great highly-paid skilled carreer programming the computers to do what tool and die makers used to do by hand in the old days....fascinating multi axis proto-typing stuff....and he still works on weekends in the winter months at the automotive shop where he has worked since high school.

I hope they never scap this type of education here. It is the backbone of our technological advantage over other industrialized countries.

I spent 9th through 12th grade in a tech school. Being that im no smarter than the average rock, it allowed me to do what my family for generations have been doing.....Metal work!

Now I own my own company!

If high school is your last step on the education ladder....you really need to know how to do something more than whine......LMAO!  

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and thats another thing. i can't get my 16 y.o stepdaughter to do shit around the house. but she loves to bitch and whine about how shitty the house looks. well if it does get off your ass and do something about it! its like pulling teeth.

at 16 years of age any thing that broke around the house was my responsibility. i remember pulling the well pump out of the front yard, replacing the capacitors, blatter tank, pressure switch and a few pipes. mom had the money to pay somebody but i wouldn't let her call anybody. grant it allot of stuff i did was experimental however alot of stuff i fixed 15 or 20 years ago still works today.

i went to trade school to be a machinist. when i got out of school i worked at a machine shop reconditioning engine parts. i worked there for 2 years until the old man that owned the place died. by that time most of your machine shops had shut down. most of the stuff we consume nowadays is disposable and not rebuildable so what the hell do you need a machinist for.

as far as being dumb as a rock goes think of how many guys claim to be a welders.and don't know shit. welding is pretty easy right? when i worked at scarefactory i'd see guys using corner clamps on a deadballs flat table and still not be able to keep a square frame true. "don't tack it just pour in the wire". "see i'm a good welder" "fillet weld is when you got a whole and you gotta fillet in" anybody can point the trigger and lay a bead but that still doesn't make you a welder. right jonny?

i dunno know man. if this country is going to grow back its balls we need shop class. we need to build stuff. if your squeamish about letting your precious son or daughter be around power tools then don't sign them up for it. sign a disclaimer. 

It must be where you live.

My daughters school still has the required 1/2 semester of wood and metal shop in 7th and 8th grade like when I went. They still have classes for both shops in high school.

BOCES still has welding, auto tech, auto collision, and conservation.  All the classes have girls in them and auto collision has more girls than boys. I was surprised that conservation students still use chain saws in this day and age.

The missing classes I see are metal machining and drafting. Looking at the horrible mess of modern blue prints ( at least on the jobs I have been on ) drafting should be in high school. Of course if the architects and engineers used uncommon sense things would be much better too.

Paul

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Ding Ding - we have a winner in the Quote of the Day contest!!

Jonny - I've seen your work.  
You are as much artist as metal fabricator.
I'm glad tech school was available to you so that your family's legacy can continue.  We are all richer for it.

I took wood shop and metal shop, and my school had an ag farm, too.

I learned to acetylene and arc weld, fabricate, and run a manual lathe. It would be nice to see CNC courses being offered, too.

In wood shop, I learned to run a lathe, planer, table saw, and radial saw.

Granted, when the instructor wasn't looking, I made a killer weed pipe, but that's beside the point!)