Everybody has valid points. There is one point everybody has missed. You have to want to get off your lazy A-- and do something. About 1/2 dozen of my former Scouts took vocational training at the local community collage. They all have jobs and depending on your point of view, they have different opportunities for advancement or maybe dead end. All have been employed since graduation day. The point being that they know what it is like to get dirty or cold. They understand that they have a job to do and are expected to complete it.
Contrast that to what is out there in the job market. I just retired from a very large company. They can't find people to work for them. Good starting wages and VERY good benefits. The problem is that they expect you to show up for work and even worse is to do some work while you are there. The New Hires is what they are called. They are very good playing with their phones. Holding a screwdriver or wrench, not so good. You would be surprised how many walk off the job at first break on day one (about 2 hours into shift). We do physical work, not sit on a couch.
My boy has been working construction jobs for the last couple of years while going to collage. Currently he puts tombstones in graveyards. He gets cold, wet and tired, but he has a job. I told him years ago when he got really got into Scouts, he couldn't get his drivers license until he got Eagle. He screwed around until he found girls. Got his Eagle in a hurry then. Then he had to find work to support his habit. Quite a few of the parents used that trick and all of their kids turned out real good. Yes, I'm a real SOB. There are jobs available in the Service fields, but you have to put an effort into learning and then doing them. Crawling under a house with spiders to fix a pipe is not appealing to kids today.
You can try to get vocational back in school. I'm afraid that nobody will elect to take it. Have a class on faster Tweeting and there will be standing room only.
Sorry about the rant.
Contrast that to what is out there in the job market. I just retired from a very large company. They can't find people to work for them. Good starting wages and VERY good benefits. The problem is that they expect you to show up for work and even worse is to do some work while you are there. The New Hires is what they are called. They are very good playing with their phones. Holding a screwdriver or wrench, not so good. You would be surprised how many walk off the job at first break on day one (about 2 hours into shift). We do physical work, not sit on a couch.
My boy has been working construction jobs for the last couple of years while going to collage. Currently he puts tombstones in graveyards. He gets cold, wet and tired, but he has a job. I told him years ago when he got really got into Scouts, he couldn't get his drivers license until he got Eagle. He screwed around until he found girls. Got his Eagle in a hurry then. Then he had to find work to support his habit. Quite a few of the parents used that trick and all of their kids turned out real good. Yes, I'm a real SOB. There are jobs available in the Service fields, but you have to put an effort into learning and then doing them. Crawling under a house with spiders to fix a pipe is not appealing to kids today.
You can try to get vocational back in school. I'm afraid that nobody will elect to take it. Have a class on faster Tweeting and there will be standing room only.
Sorry about the rant.