Let’s face it school can be a pretty boring place for teenagers who want to be out there experiencing the world and not stuck in classroom rote learning facts and figures. Influenced by a daily menu of violence dished out on TV and videogames it’s small wonder that their digital world of make believe can spill over into reality turning order into chaos. It only takes a small number of extroverts in any school to sow the seeds of revolt and then apply peer group pressure on the weaker students to set up a domino effect with sometimes devastating consequences. The irony is that those very same extroverts are probably the best candidates to be singled out for bringing about a paradigm shift in reducing violence and improved college grades.
There is however a more significant problem with college education in the US today which indirectly contributes to classroom violence. That problem is the communications divide between the college education sector and commerce and industry. If the students could only understand the relevance of the classes they attend and the job market. Of course every student knows they need to be educated to get a good job but that is light years from understanding how commerce and industry works and if they work hard how they might land a really super position. If for example you could show a student that learning English Literature plus Geography and getting top grades could get them a job on the American Idol TV program do you think they would shirk their classes and homework? Better still, supposing they were given some on the job experience working with the contestants and judges at American Idol wouldn’t that provide a strong connection between education and the job market? I certainly think so!
So back to classroom violence. Lets say you created an Industry Total Immersion Program where troublemaking students were sent to on the job experience crash courses with local companies for one week at a time. The benefits of such courses would be many. Significantly the troublemakers are removed from the classroom providing the teachers with a breathing space in which to restore order. The local employers and departments need to be chosen carefully to provide an interesting and uplifting experience for the students selected. Importantly the employer staff chosen to work with these students would be required to adopt a no-nonsense firm but fair approach to managing the student’s time at the company.
Although the proposed Industry Total Immersion Program maybe touted as a kind of punishment for the wayward students the reality is that many of those same students would return to classroom uplifted and enthusiastic about their job prospects and instead of venting their frustration in the classroom, their energies can be directed towards better education and the carrot of a super job at the end of their schooling. A one week job experience course will however not achieve the desired change in attitude but a series of courses spread over several semesters with a range of different employers should achieve the goal. Placing the troublemakers in an adult environment where they have to ‘tow the line’ will take away the power base of weaker pupils they can dominate. Once that power base is gone their attention will be directed to all that’s new in this different adult work environment and whereas not all job experience courses will indeed be exhilarating they will at least be different to that found in school and making the courses challenging will also be a distraction for the troublemakers.
The plan is that eventually the troublemaking students will find the job experience courses sufficiently interesting and the future employment horizon is so promising it is well worth them making the effort to get educated and abandon their hooligan past. The knock-on effect will be a paradigm shift from negative to positive peer group pressure with many ex-troublemakers promoting to their fellow students the exciting future job prospects for students who get good grades at school.
The natural progression for this job experience plan is to extend it to all students in grades 9 thru 12 and have the employers contribute not only personnel and facilities at their work place to the scheme but to play a more pro-active role. Employers after all need a constant supply of new and well educated workers to maintain their competitiveness and so it’s not unreasonable that the education sector should ask employers to step up to the plate and contribute more to this worthy cause. The new plan I envision would also have companies with over 100 employees contribute one employee one day per week to give lectures at local schools on how the company does business in addition to arranging on-site work-experience visits for students. Additionally those companies that have booths at tradeshows would also arrange for conducted student tours of these expos to provide students with an interesting first hand look at their industry.
Under-funding the educational system and thereby preventing it from producing a well educated next generation is so very short sighted. The cost in lost productivity, jobs moving overseas plus the increase in policing our cities and housing more prisoners would far outstrip spending extra now on improving the US educational system.
I leave you with this sobering thought. The violence now faced in schools through an inability to control troublemakers is a drop in the ocean to what can be expected if youth unemployment increases in the next decade.
Over the last century a phenomenon known as “Youth Bulge" has been a contributing factor in igniting several regional conflicts in Europe. Youth Bulge is loosely defined a very large group of unemployed males in the 18-24 year old age bracket. They are physically fit and have pent up anger because they cannot find employment. Just the right qualities for the leadership of any crazy political fringe group to meld into a fighting force. The consequences of this happening are simply too frightening to contemplate.
Vincent Waterson spent 15 years in personnel recruitment. He is author of Skyhooks (ISBN 1-4196-1645-5) - A BOOTSTRAPPER’S GUIDE TO FINDING A JOB For 18 to 20 something year old American College students. It is published by amazon.com. Extracts from the book are available at www.jobs-book.com The author can be contacted at vwaterson@aol.com |
