Technical schools offer crucial benefits

By Jill Sneathen

Not too long ago, I could not tell which way was up.

My friends marched to one beat, my parents to another, and I doggie-paddled alone in the sea of indecision.

I knew what my family would think was right, but I could not nudge myself in their direction.

Finally, I caught a wave and did something radical, outrageous and much to the surprise of family and teachers.

No, I did not decide to take drugs or abuse alcohol or even something as small as breaking curfew. I decided that attending a technical college instead of a four-year university would be the best way for me to succeed.

Many teens, like myself, swim the sea of indecision, finding they meet the whale himself: college.

Some high school graduates face the choice with bold ambition, but some come to realize it is not a choice at all, but an expectation. The pressure to attend a four-year university stems from parents, teachers and a society which equivocates a degree with success, although not always true.

In this whirlwind of colleges and master's degrees, our nation has lost something: Skilled laborers and tradespeople who are the foundation of the country.

Without these carpenters, mechanics, medical technicians and secretaries, the business world and the world as we know it would stop.

Because vocational education is looked down upon, because it is not seen as an equal to college degrees, because it is unfashionable, the benefits of a technical education often go unnoticed. High school graduates should be allowed to find and achieve their own goals and not be expected to attend a four year university.

Many students who do as well as their fellow scholars do not need a four-year degree to succeed.

According to Lucy Hood, journalist for the San Antonio Express-News, "... career and technology students either do as well as or slightly better than other students on the state's standardized tests. ..." This concept smashes the idea that vocational education is for academically challenged students.

Hood agrees, "The [name] change is part of an effort to shed an age-old inferiority complex based on the concept that cosmetology and auto repair are a last resort for students who do not excel academically."

Orlando Lizcano, director of the vocational program at Lanier High School in San Antonio, Texas, adds, "Vocational education ... is not for kids who can't make it."

Increased academic based curriculum and work orientated training have made vocational education the first choice for higher education instead of the last. An article from Community College Week states, "... vocational training ... provides non-academic opportunities that enable people to earn as much or more than those with college degrees. That means those not inclined toward four-year degree programs still can become happy, successful and productive members of our society."

Career and technology centers across the country, such as the one in Cape Girardeau, have worked hard to break the stereotypes and negative images often associated with vocational training. "Vocational education has held its own, even excelled, advocates say, because it has kept up with the times," Hood states. Successful students benefit from these changes and advancements.

Not only are students in the vocational field successful, they are desperately needed for the shortage in the workforce. Tom Gelinas, in an article from Fleet Equipment comments, "... there is a scarcity of students pursuing technical education in the United States." He went on to further observe the societal and school pressures on students affecting their choice of education.

For many in the baby-boomer generation, work based training was their reality and college was a dream. David Phoenix wrote in the Journal of Biological Education, based in the UK, "In the 1960s, there were approximately 250,000 students (which represented just 6 percent of the 18-21 age group) in higher education."

Parents wish their children to have what they could not, but in that drive for degrees, our nation's skilled laborers and technical tradesmen are fading away. "By 1995," Phoenix states, "there were 104 universities and colleges ... student population had grown massively to over one a half million. ..." With the spotlight on overcrowded colleges and general degrees, vocational training gets left in the dust, and so does America.

Successful technically trained students not only find jobs, but find the skills learned in vocational settings can be as valuable and resourceful as college degrees. Phoenix alleges, "... employers are happy with students' levels of intellectual and specialist knowledge."

This statement proves skills acquired by students are vital to the real-world environment.

However, some view this type of skill as a downfall of the educational system. Virginia Miller is one such critic, supposes, "The danger of the new education standards is that they may elevate workplace competencies above essential academic knowledge." Her opposition accuses work orientated education as filtering uneducated workers into the job market.

Most, if not all vocational institutions prepare students with ample academic knowledge to prepare them for situations that may arise in the real world.

Vocational education is the fundamental set of skills which provides the skilled tradesmen of our country. Success, not disappointment and failure in the work world is what vocational students achieve. Without these valuable technically-trained engineers, nurses, mechanics, and other laborers, our nation would lose its most valuable resource: The working man.

Please help alleviate this shortage and raise awareness of the benefits of vocational education.

Jill Sneathen is a senior at Jackson High School.