I agree with you. My comments about the industries that can prosper was just what the USNews article stated. My own opinion, which I stated this morning to my son’s math teacher, is that math and writing are the most important skills our youth need, because those abilities will help us compete in the new economy. We need to invent new products for export, and that requires a great comfort in math. When I was in college, a loooong time ago, I was one of the only women in the engineering courses. I’m glad that has changed.
I’ve heard too many adults tell me they didn’t choose a certain major because they didn’t like math, or they’d have to take too many math catch-up classes. Kids who don’t take enough math end up eliminating about half the majors available to them in college. They say, “I don’t want to study Chemistry because I’d need Calculus”, or “I can’t study Computer Science because I would need to start with Algebra 1”.
The best favor any of us with kids can do, is to make sure our kids take the toughest math classes they can handle, all the way through high school, and get tutoring if needed. They must also write well, and since teachers have too many students to spend adequate time to edit reports, parents have to fill that void. Kids also need time to free play, make up games, ride bikes, and learn how to fill their time. They need to pursue their own interests, and not just ours. That means less time in structured activities, more time in their own creations. And of course, forget the game boy, game cube, TV, or minimize its involvement to a couple hours per week. (My oldest wasn’t allowed to have a game cube until age 12, so he may not be adept at moving his thumb, but you should hear him play the piano and the sax!). Poway High School does not offer Chinese, but I agree this is a language well worth learning. This is my view of preparing youth, and I so much would like to hear more opinions.
Does anyone reading this have any advice on keeping flexible in today’s job market and preparing our youth for the new economy?
