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THE ETHICAL QUESTION: Should high schools prepare students for business? |
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THOSE WHO AGREE SAY THIS:
Let's face it: more than half of our waking hours, during weekdays, is devoted to work. And the type of job we have identifies us, offers us a standard of living and is often at the centre of our social lives.
High school prepares us for life, and much of life is our work.
We don't want to see our teen-aged children working at full-time jobs, and yet we don't want them sitting in a classroom learning about things that they will never use. So, we should spend these years teaching them computer skills, trades and good habits that will be useful to them in the workplace.
Our society depends on having these young people leave high school ready to be productive. There are other countries in this world that are preparing to take away our jobs. They will be successful if they have a trained workforce that can make better products for less money. The sooner we start training young people, the more competitive Canada and the Yukon will be.
Besides, the teen-aged years are the best time for them to try out different fields to find a career that excites and challenges. High schools have the wherewithal to offer these many experiences all under one roof.
THOSE WHO DISAGREE SAY THIS:
There is something disturbing about the sound of a school bell. It tells the students it is time to pick up their books and walk quietly and orderly to their next class.
It may be efficient, but it is certainly “conditioning” as well.
Then there is the painful exercise of making students sit at desks for 45 or 90 minutes at a time, concentrating on something as nonsensical and useless as who ruled Egypt during the Early Dynastic Period.
This may teach students how to learn, but it is otherwise an empty exercise that is just “conditioning”.
Students rebel against this type of conditioning and they quit in numbers that are too high. Sometimes the teachers quit trying and, instead of teaching and fighting to maintain control of the classroom, they throw on a DVD of Silence of the Lambs.
High school can create something much, much better than a ready workforce: they can create good people who seek out challenges and meets them with a passion.
Young people will always find a challenge. Do you want that challenge to be a computer game, or understanding the world around them?
Young people will learn much more on the job or in college; give them time to grow as individuals, first.
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The Ethical Question