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Summer Time Philosophy from High School Graduates

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of my son came to the house. Both boys have graduated high school this past June and will be embarking on separate paths soon. My son will be attending a community college before transferring to another school to complete his four year degree. The other boy will be moving to another state to learn about farming in a spiritual environment for a year before entering any formal education.  The boys sat in my suburban back yard and were chatting. Afterwards, I asked my son about the conversation and his friend’s plans.  He said they were talking about their post-graduation plans and others they graduated with post-graduation plans and antics.
 
I spoke to him about some things I heard about his former classmates in the news lately. One graduate is accused of burglarizing a gas station. Another is accused of exposing himself in public to a group of children in a park. Both boys are currently pending criminal charges and facing serious jail time. Both are only 18 years old and have only had their High School Diplomas barely two months.  My son said that they spoke about these news events and other ones that did not make the local news coverage.  Finally he said, “It was expected. This is the summer that anyone that was expected to screw up would.”

That statement scared me. A graduating class full of potential. The potential to change the world, cure disease, achieve world piece should be on the minds of high school graduates. How prepared are the graduates for the world if the first time they are adults, they commit crime and live up to the ‘screw up’ prediction?  Is the job of high school to prepare the next generation of young people for adult life? All questions I ponder.
 
These are big philosophical questions for policy makers and are not easily answered by parents. They are bigger than two boys in my backyard that are embarking upon adult life. These are questions for the larger community. Not just the local community in the suburbia I live in, but for the state, and federal community.  Is the role of education just to educate or prepare the next generation of citizens and workers?

Having been a parent for the past 18 years and a workforce development professional for many of those, I know that the implication of education that pretends that there is not life after high school is catastrophic to the larger society. Having any young person choose to enter a life of crime rather than a profession is dangerous to everyone. Today, four young people spoken about in this post may not enter the workforce development system, but someday they might. Two may arrive with education and/or vocational skills to build upon and offer an employer. Two others may enter the workforce development system with a criminal record.  All four boys came from the same educational system, but how prepared are any of them for life beyond high school?

I can be reached at kcirincione@gmail.com. ~Karen Cirincione

 

 

 

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