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Are parents justified in pressuring their teenage children to get a college education?
Are parents justified in pressuring their teenage children to get a college education?
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Results so far:
| Yes | 65% | 521 votes | Total: 805 votes | |
| No | 35% | 284 votes |
Yes
by Ronnie Dauber
Created on: July 09, 2009 Last Updated: August 19, 2010
Parents are justified in pressuring their teenage children to get a college education because many teens haven't developed the insight to realize that without it they will likely not be able to pursue a successful career. Parents have the knowledge, wisdom and experience that teenagers have not yet acquired, and as responsible caregivers to their children, they have an obligation to steer them into a gainful and positive future..
Teenagers may have completed high school with honors and may possess skills and qualifications that are the foundation for a successful career, but they lack the insight into the fundamentals for establishing that successful career. Their minds are not yet developed into the realities of today's world and are often stuck on shortcuts and quick solutions.
After graduating from high school, most teenagers want to take that recreational break, and that is fair since they've spent the last dozen or so years inside the classroom. But the recreational break can become a detrimental break if plans are not made to continue pressing towards their career.
Today's world is much more complicated and intricate than it was a generation ago. Technology, environmental science and communicational developments have changed the educational requirements for employment. Layman's jobs are being eliminated on a regular basis as highly trained operators are taking over.
Yes, there are still many jobs out there that don't require any more education than the high school level, but where does that take the employee? Is there a goal or gainful future to be accomplished? Can they live and support a family on a job that pays only minimum wage? Is there any guarantee that this job won't eventually lose out to technology?
Most teenagers, after graduating from high school, experience a sense of accomplishment they have completed one full stage of their life and they are ready to tackle the world. They want the prestige, the job, the respect and the money that working at a job provides. They elite in the fact there are no more teachers to boss them around and that their minimum-wage job gives them enough money to do the things that they wanted to do without having to ask for their parent's financial support.
These are good and respectful intentions but they do not provide for a competent future. Parents have watched the world change and they have experienced the changes, and they know that they need to get their teenagers into college to complete their education and be trained in a specific career.
Most employers want only college or university level employees and parents know this. But even though many teenagers also realize this, they become trapped by the instant financial bliss that their first job provides. They become blind and ignorant to the need to get passed this thrill and into the reality of a career.
Many parents are aware of this stage in life because many of them, through one reason or another, have never been able to rise above the financial needs of the day and have never been able to pursue the career that they now know they should have. These parents want their children to attain all the success that they couldn't, and they are justified in pressuring their teenagers to get to college.
Those parents who realize the need for their teenagers to get a college education will also prepare for the costs. Some may have a fund saved up or one that is being saved up. Others may encourage their teenager to contribute over a number of years through a part-time job during high school. And in some cases, some teenagers will actually have to work full-time for a designated period after high school to help provide the finances for college.
College education is a need for every teenager in today's world if they want to succeed in their future. Parents who encourage and help to provide the ability for college aren't actually pressuring their teenager, but rather are supporting them and challenging them to a positive and productive future. And this is their right and their responsibility as a parent.
Learn more about this author, Ronnie Dauber.
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No
by Loni Stel
Created on: July 07, 2009 Last Updated: July 11, 2009
As a mom of ten children, with our four oldest having graduated from high school, I absolutely do not believe in pressuring children to get a college education. To just go to college to "see what they want to be when they grow up" may never accumulate to what they want to be, but instead, accumulate much college education debt.
My oldest son is 22 years old and does not have a college education. He works full-time in an automotive repair shop as a master mechanic, having earned numerous ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) certifications. These are national tests which he has to take to be certified to do certain repairs in his shop. Much of it was hands on learning as he was working his way up, and passing tests. He has taken classes at a community college, but feels he could be where he is at without any of the college education. He continues to do some of the college courses, for the future, in case he would like to teach automotive courses at some point in his life. However, he does not feel pressured to do so.
My next oldest son is 19 years old. He is taking some classes also at the community collge. He loves music and he is thinking of a degree in Criminal Justice. But we are allowing him to decide which way he feels his life should go. If we pressure him, he will not do well in courses he does not like or has no desire to be a part of. Sometimes it is a matter of maturity for children to see that they do, or don't, need a college education.
My next two graduated children are 18 year old twin daughters. One is interested in art (drawing); the other in photography. But they both want to take it slow, possibly beginning with on-line courses. They too do not want to waste time or money taking classes that will not further their interests. As a mom, I am not going to push them to take the "core classes" just to keep them in college, when they may find that is not what they want to do. As young adults they need to learn to make decisions that will affect their futures.
Personally, I went to college and received a legal secretarial degree. I used it for about two years and then began having a family. I've been at home now raising and homeschooling children for over twenty years and found a new interest with writing. I am thankful I did not go four years to a college to receive a degree - just to receive a degree to please my parents. My husband alsowent to college and received a engineering drafting degree, but never used it. He went from working as a gravestone designer, to phone book ad designer, to tool and die, and now for the past five years, developing his own business in small engine repair. He's always loved "tinkering" with things, and had he started with his "love" of doing this . . . he would be much further with his business.
Each child is different. It may take many years for a child to see where he/she wants his/her life to go, but if pressured, may go the wrong direction and have a degree or job that is detested. Though laziness should not be encouraged (or allowed?) finding the strong points of a child and developing them may or may not mean a college education. However, pushing a child to go to college, just to go, is a waste of time and money for the child, parents, and can even be a discouragement to professors who do not see a child succeed in "their" degree. College is a wonderful advantage for learning and succeeding, but this may not be the way for learning and succeeding for each child.
Learn more about this author, Loni Stel.
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