Careless Tories!

[MadAmster]

So it’s all rA’s fault! Poor fallible chap’s having a bad few days.
Seriously though, don’t agree. Even in ‘my day’ teachers had no chance of dragging most kids out of mundanity because there was and will always be a genuinely ‘thick’ but also a massive minority with potential but lack of direction, which teachers could/can only do so much to influence but parents very much should

I’d also argue that (too) many opt out of the working population completely with the blessing of an increasingly soft benefit system which favours them over genuine hard working low paid people.

Which is why I favour changing the school system. More time should be spent on things other than the 3 Rs. I'm not saying ditch all the subjects but they should be tailored to pupils' interests and possible futures. Before leaving secondary school, I believe pupils should be equipped with the tools of life as well as the academic things they get taught. Cooking, budgeting, gardening, simple car/bike mechanics, music, how the "system" works and how they might possibly affect it, childcare and other basics of life. Most parents aren't either capable of it and/or don't care enough.

Teach them things that are relevant to their skills and aspirations. Teach them how to live rather than exist. There is a life outside of the education, work too long for too little, retire and die soon afterwards syndrome. Show then that possibility and prepare them to take that leap in the dark.

It's not the slavery of old but it's all about the money and not about LIFE. If I knew what I know now and could go back to being 16 again, I wouldn't have followed the same "career path". At 16, school and parents had taught me to conform to the life required by the "system". Study hard, work hard and you'll get on. Not so much of the first bit but I did all of that and pushed myself into 2 burnouts. The 1st far worse than the 2nd as I recognised symptoms and stopped. The first saw 6 months pass before I was back part time and another 5 months pass between then and being back to work full time. I looked at my options the 2nd time and realised I could afford to retire at 60 and I did just that. Since then I've been buying and selling records and DJing. Income from gigs nowhere near covers the amount spent on vinyl but it's a hobby and one I thoroughly enjoy. Happy as a sandlark. There's more to life than working yourself into a mental breakdown and/or an early grave.

Really pleased my eldest became a pilot, something he always wanted to be, and is not overworked. He says it's fun. Not like work at all. My other son is a sound engineer and musician. Also following his dream. It doesn't seem like he's ever going to be rich, in a monetary sense, but he is doing something he loves and that is worth far more than I was led to believe back in my youth.

Way too late, I realised I was chasing the wrong dream. It wasn't my dream, it was me helping the system to keep the rich, rich and at our expense. I sincerely hope I've got another 20 odd good years, and more, in me to live life for me rather than than generate things for others on my hamster wheel as I did throughout much of my working life.

Best bit for me was running my training company giving IT courses, Business English courses, Communication and Presentation courses at companies. Doing as much or little as I wanted. It also allowed me to do the FA Level 1, 2 and 3 coaching courses and other football related courses. Those things combined led to a teaching job at a Sports College which saw me coaching for a week, twice a year, along with UEFA B students of ours, at Moor Farm. Absolutely brilliant. I learned way too late to start doing things I enjoy. More folk should do that more often.

Quite simply, the system of how we live needs a makeover. The 1% won't like it but they've run the show for their own benefit for too long. Life shouldn't be the drudgery (some would say modern slavery) it is for many. From 2002 (following a heart attack) I got out of the treadmill and did things I wanted to. I did bear in mind the need to earn money but I did that doing things for me (and the family) rather than going back to the grind of 70 to 80 hours a week as an IT manager that I'd done for way too long. 40 a week should be sufficient to provide for your family. It used to be but isn't anymore.

Rant over.

[Andy_Faber]

Which is why I favour changing the school system. More time should be spent on things other than the 3 Rs. I'm not saying ditch all the subjects but they should be tailored to pupils' interests and possible futures. Before leaving secondary school, I believe pupils should be equipped with the tools of life as well as the academic things they get taught. Cooking, budgeting, gardening, simple car/bike mechanics, music, how the "system" works and how they might possibly affect it, childcare and other basics of life. Most parents aren't either capable of it and/or don't care enough.

Teach them things that are relevant to their skills and aspirations.

Rant over.

I sort of agree on the first paragraph, I actually think there should be MORE 3rs but slanted towards their use in the real world rather than complex stuff

The problem with the second paragraph though (and this is a personal real world example), what happens when all everyone wants to be is a hip hop artiste? There’s got to be a bit of realism applied