Investment in youth needs to start before they get into trouble
By Lethbridge Herald on July 11, 2023.
Editor:
Dennis Bremner’s letter of July 1st, contained hints of ways we fail kids seeking opportunities leading to lives of productivity. Newspapers everywhere are full of failures.
Millions of helpers become wonderfully employed keeping the “marginalized” alive – and marginalized. “Harm reduction” keeps popping up in the media. “Harm reduction” to whom? Should endless social messes be the exclusive fodder of battalions of government appointed social agency types – NGO’s, and the rest blindly “watch” civilization die, while feasting off endless social rubble?.
There’s a related issue that has bugged me for years, which has undoubtedly led some youth down the sordid path of crime, addictions, and hopelessness. We constantly hear words like “there’s a shortage of trades people” – guys and gals who fix the six figure university professors’ plugged drain, install solar at the cabin or fix a flat on the $80,000 SUV. So why are there shortages of good solid trades people? I’ll tell you why! Billions are spent annually on projects, like “saving lives” with free, “shelter,” clothes, food and drugs ” or playgrounds that will shortly end up like expensive toilets in drug-infested downtown cores. This while very little comparably if anything is invested (at any level of government) promoting trades, or supporting a kid with a desire to enter one.
Here’s an example. We enticed a recently graduated member of the family to live and work in Lethbridge. A friend, part owner of a well-established, successful firm, expressed a willingness to take on an apprentice. There was great eagerness shown to relocate here to live and work. A contract was signed with that firm July 4th, 2022. Hope ended Feb. 2023 – “insufficient work to keep you on.” Our lucky family member is now employed by a firm, one of the largest operations in its space, that promises long-term employment. This kid now has a living wage, a future, and restored hope. What bums me out is this: In the above case, after paying rent there was barely enough money remaining to buy groceries, and put gas in a 20-year-old car. That rig, a gifted vehicle, although in great condition, still cost him $2,500 to safety inspect, tires, battery and so on replaced.
This level of poverty, despair and worry would continue for a full four years while apprenticing, with debt mounting every year. But this ancient but safe four-door car driven by a young responsible adult with, full professional driver training under the belt, no driving infractions, never caused anyone any trouble, must pay a discriminating fortune to insure it because –“you’re under 25.” The insurance industry age discriminates, and it’s a crime they are allowed to do so. This kid, and all youth with no record, should have the best rates possible! Why? Because they’ve committed no crime, there’s no driving infractions, there’s no proven risk to the insurer. The vehicle is an absolutely necessary. The job involves some night shifts, long after public transportation stops. Further debt with, Uber services, taxi cabs etc is not an option. Some youth having their sights on a trade, unless they live in their parents’ basement for four starving years, may think they’ll succeed in a life involving drugs and crime. Once an established street urchin they have oodles of support – hands extended are everywhere. If played right they have an army of compassionates caring and coddling, possibly a personal care giver, food, clothing, shelter etc etc. My belief is that investments in youth should start before they go off the rails – not after! Perhaps we’d have more tradespeople ready to fix stuff. And if we’re really lucky, fewer unemployed university grads trained to invent jobs for themselves – curing the “marginalized” – while sucking the life out of the taxpayer!
A.W. Shier
Lethbridge
9-8
Useless degrees produce more talking heads with never ending “bright ideas”. I have numerous friends in the trades. They persevered all the mentions above. Today, self sustaining, tax paying contributors to the services all those NGO’s gobble up. Nothing like a hard days work to boost your self esteem. You are correct in so many ways Alvin.
Smart countries and jurisdictions do not scrimp or do cutbacks on education, whether it be blue collar or white collar. A reminder could be, that many folks today, cannot afford a post secondary education of any kind in Canada. Because other countries, for example, wish to be at the top of the heap in every area, i.e. trades, law, medicine, computer science, banking, aeronautics, etc., they facilitate anyone being able to access education and employment. Some countries, perhaps with a dense populated tax base, provide free post-secondary education. It’s money in the bank. Switzerland, for example, has excellent education work experience programs in partnership with the public and private sectors for all areas. There, and also in the Netherlands, children in Grade 6 are assessed according to their abilities and then directed into secondary areas where they will do best. My husband, for example, went to a secondary agricultural school in The Netherlands after Grade 6. Some of his friends went to secondary trade schools and some to academic schools. At the academic schools, languages that were compulsory were Dutch, English, German, French, and Latin…because of their international trade, banking, etc.
In Canada, we are, at perhaps a disadvantage, with education being splintered into provincial jurisdictions, and not having a smooth country-wide system.
Perhaps, this is a suggestion for some good ideas which work elsewhere that could be adopted here:
“Education in Switzerland: Here’s What You Need to Know. Switzerland’s education system is one of the most advanced in the world.”
http://www.studyinginswitzerland.com/switzerland-education/
It’s terrible how unsupported the trades are. A big deal is made if the government throws more money at a trades college program. It is when they get out to apprentice that they are thrown to the wind and taken advantage of and abused, really.