I feel like there is a sort of "shaming" that seems to be part of the country today when it comes to careers. Decades ago, if someone asked a child what they wanted to be and they said "trash man," the child wasn't shamed. They were allowed to draw pictures of them as a trash man. Maybe they changed their mind and maybe they didn't. The fact is that being a trash man wasn't looked at widely as a bad thing. It was no different than a child that said they wanted to be a teacher, doctor, firefighter, or a chef. It was a job.
It seems, now, like parents feel the need to shame their children if they aren't selecting a career they deem acceptable. I constantly hear parents say things like, "Well you won't make any money" or "Well that's just silly." To these parents, I say the following: It takes all kinds of people to make up the world and no job is silly. Let the trash men strike for a week and see how much you realize we need them. Let the chefs in restaurants strike for a month and see how much it affects a whole lot of people. Let the custodians in schools and businesses strike for a week and let's see how much you notice the disgusting change. Let the day care workers or nannies strike and see how many people are still able to care for their children. I'm sure there are frivolous jobs but they are few and far between so please don't poo-poo on your child for not wanting a job that requires a college degree.
In a country where there is so much focus on attending college, I find myself amazed at how many people have college degrees that they never use. I find myself amazed at how many people discover AFTER spending money on college that they don't even enjoy what they went to school for. Kids are expected, at 18, to make a choice and stick with it but they change so much between 18 and 25 years old. Kids are told that they have to go to college but reality is that there are many careers where you don't start with a higher salary just because went to college.
My point is that there are all kinds of career paths that you can take and all of these jobs help our countries run smoothly. Instead of shaming a child over their career choice, encourage them and let THEM make the choice. Chances are they will change their mind or change their job more than once anyway. Let them make mistakes. Let them dream big dreams. Let them be kids instead of making them feel less. You just might be surprised when they grow up and enjoy their life, regardless of what career they have.
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