How about a way to get children into the working world as soon as
possible so as to give them a head start. Would that be beneficial for
the country, not to mention the children themselves who will come out of high
school with hands on working experience? Here is my idea.
The idea: The premise is simple. At the
age of 13, the student with the parents’ permission would get their working
papers. Hence they would be allowed to work at a place of employment.
From here the program takes over where the student either works for four
to five hours each day (excluding weekends, unless the parent gives permission
or circumstances dictate) to gain work experience. But some of you are
saying now that this will interfere with their schooling. Well, I can
alleviate your fears, you just have to read the next section.
How
it works: It is fairly
simple. Yes the student will be working four to five hours each day, but
this is set up in a way that does not interfere with time in school or with
private time at home. To accomplish this, the core subjects of reading,
writing, math along with elements of history and science will take up the first
few hours of the day (or the remainder of the afternoon). The students
will have a lunch period and a study hall time so as to do their homework and
other assignments prior to going to work or starting their school day. So
as an example, a student will be dropped off by their parent at the place of
employment (or by bus) to work. Then, a bus will pick them up and drive
them back to school where they will eat lunch and have a study hall. For
those who work in the afternoon, the children are dropped at school first and
then are dropped off at their place of employment. Thus, all the core
subjects are accounted for and the student will most likely leave school (or
work) approximately around three, four or five in the evening depending on the
situation and the nature of the job.
To ensure a diverse range of experiences,
a student will work at a particular job for at least two months (longer if
parents give approval due to the student wishing they can stay at their place
of employment and the business owner accepting). By giving a two month
window, the student can get a sense of what the job is like. Essentially it
is trying to get as many job experiences under the belt of the student as
possible. This accumulated experience will give the students the
knowledge and skills necessary to hold a job after they get out of school.
Advantages to all: The first advantage is to the students as
they will gain work experience and be trained to do multiple jobs depending on
how well the program is run. As such they get a head start in life with
respect to knowing and retaining job related skills (and cash too). The
second advantage is to the businesses. They get a work force of students being
paid minimum wage (or more depending on the circumstances), which means cheap
labor for them. Finally, the schools can rotate their students which
allows for smaller class sizes and thus cost savings with respect to certain
elective classes or man power.
Conclusion: Is this a good idea? I only think it is because I thought
of it, but what about you? Do you think that this is an option that can
be used to give students a head start in life with respect to the job market?
I hope this idea will at least spring forth a better one as at this point
in time, the next generation will have to work very hard to adapt to this ever
faster changing society.
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