Are parents justified in pressuring their teenage children to get a college education?

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

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