College and extended adolescense

Post Reply New Topic

What do you guys think about college? Do you think it has helped create the extended adolescense problem that we have today? Do you think college is shoved down people throats too much? Do you think vocational training and trades are just as good if not better than college for most people?

Dropping out of college was one of the best things I ever did. Unless you're on scholarship, don't waste your time. My sister is graduating from Umass this year and she'll be the first to tell you that she learned more from me than she did in college.

I can't wait till she graduates and stops wasting her time on a piece of paper.

I liked & still currently like college, but the enjoyment is related to the subjects of my interests in science & technology. I have 2 official science degrees & 2 unofficial majors that I could turn into degrees if I wanted (but see no reason to). College is the only place I am semi-successful. Am successful with the work, but not with other people. Sometimes my conflicts with others robs me of my enjoyment of the classes. Had to change institutions recently because had attended the 1st university for many years & so many people there hate me. It isn't anything to do with me personally -- never did anything bad to anyone, but they don't get along with someone who doesn't want to be friends with them. After changing to a different college, have regained my enjoyment for the classes & successfully work there.

It hasn't created any career opportunities, but that isn't why I attend. Believe I would enjoy vocational training also. Took a welding class in Jan that was great at the beginning, but the risks & negative effects began to outnumber the benefits after 6 weeks. I dropped it, but would like to take more trade type of courses which would compliment the science & technology classes.

College in and of itself no.
Trying to pay off the incredible amount of money it takes to go to college does extend adolescence.

I also think our always-connected world and hovering parenting are important factors.

I could not have gotten my degree without a scholarship and Voc Rehab to finance it.

Parents do need to learn to quit coming to the rescue every time their kids have a problem. Kids need to learn how to solve their own problems. It's not like mommy or daddy can go complain to their kid's bosses when their precious kids have problems at work.

I think the college lifestyle promotes extended adolescense. Many students go stay in dorms while in college and they get involved in fraternities and sororities. Sororities and fraternities are full of endless partying and drama. I don't see how joining one looks good on a resume.

It can if the employer was a member back in the day as many were

That is a stupid reason to hire a person. I would look at their qualifications and their references. I think people focus too much on connections and not enough on qualifications.

I agree there is much too much emphasis these days put on networking and people skills for jobs that do not require those skills. The only defence of the practice is that todays employers need to worry about somebody shooting up the office or suing them more then they have in the past. A person you have been friends with for 20 years is less likely to do those things.

I largely agree with this. I moved out of home at 15. Got all my "teenage stuff" sorted out early on. Got my BA, MA, PhD with scholarship. Spent a lot of time wondering why everyone was wasting time in educational institutions when all they wanted to get out of it was eating junk food, smoking pot and contemplating sleeping with their housemate.

Saying that, part of the college and university life is clearly all about people "finding themselves" I feel unclear how far people got on that trajectory but given it is an ongoing project perhaps the world is a better place for people going off to college to learn to live away from their family and figuring out who they are. Saying that it appears to me it would be more constructive if the two things weren't so interlinked.

All in all though, I think we are raising less and less independent people.

Knowing someone for 20 years doesn't mean crap. In fact in can taint your objectivity as you are unable to realistically assess your friend. I had that come up recently where I had to tell someone the person they knew for 30plus years is a self involved narcissist. I explained she didn't work with this guy and therefore only had rosy high school memories of him. I got away from him and contact is at near zero.

I would argue economics are more the cause than college. The fact is that while jobs have recovered from the economic collapse of last decade, wages are still lagging behind, and many people with a job are finding it harder to make ends meet than they did a decade ago. The answer to that problem is generally more 'communal' living, i.e. using one's family as support since it helps defray costs for the whole group. One thing that needs to be noted about people living in 'extended adolescence' is that the vast majority of them don't want to be in that situation, it's a situation of last resort.

As for the value of college there's not much there, education is valuable, but college per se is not. I didn't really get much out of college, I'm a self starting learner with an appetite for information, the classes moved slow and I got just as bored there as I did in high school. When I was younger I thought everyone was like that and those that weren't learning were just being lazy, I've since come to realize I'm the anomaly, not them. But, that's why I make the differentiation between college/trade school and education: one is an institution, the other is an ability. One can be educated without going to school, and schooling is no guarantee someone is educated. Our society conflates the two as one, but they're actually two completely different things.

I also find trade schools to be vastly under sold for their value, and the professions resulting from said schools (electrician, welder, mechanic, etc.) to be vastly under appreciated for the skills they provide. When I was going to college I studied electrical standards in my spare time, as well as plumbing (laugh away, fixing your own sink or toilet is not only satisfying, it's a giant cost saver, as well as providing hands on experience with fluid dynamics) and someday when I have time I'd like to learn welding. Each one of those professions are a necessity in the modern world, so much so that if we eliminated any one of them as a profession our modern world would come to a screeching halt. And yet, there are ad writers making 10x what a welder does and deriding said welder for his/her poor choice of profession, when all the ad writer does is sprinkle sugar on BS and considers it more 'productive'. It's pretty ridiculous if you ask me.

People are too quick to sue each other over stupid stuff. People are obsessed with money and they never want to take responsibility for their own crap.

I wouldn't hire most of the people I went to school with. I wouldn't be able to trust them to be professional and do their jobs. I think it's stupid to hire a person to work at your school because they were a former student.

College should be about learning the skills and information for the job you want to have when you graduate. If people are just going to get drunk and hook up, then what's the point of college?

We have a whole bunch of goofballs running around. Little work ethic.

Most people don't know their old high school buddies as well as they think they do. Most people have shallow friendships and acquaintanceships with each other. I agree that is hard to give a friend an objective performance evaluation on the job. I wouldn't want to be in that position.