College is not for everyone

Wakefield Area News

By Mary V Lauro

BRONX, NEW YORK, April 18- Some of the most profound medical and physical discoveries were made during a time when college was not for everyone and yet, no one worried about it. Nowadays, it seems everyone worries about it. Why that is so, is anyone's guess.

First there is the question of money. Colleges cost so much that upon reflection they force couples to choose between having children and sending them to college. The Bachelor of Arts is expensive. The higher degrees are more so. There are no refunds. Children who decide to drop out still have a huge debt which manages to curtail not only their lives, but that of their families and children.

To the normal fertile brain, college study work is not difficult. But, as with other parts of the body, the rate of its development in every person is not the same. A young person may enter college thinking he would like to spend his life as a math teacher only to find it is too difficult for him or it does not interest him at all. A young woman may want to be a doctor but drops out of Pre-med when she realizes she is far more fascinated by History. Why are we spending so much money on what's called higher^, education, when truth be told we are not doing so well on primary education?

Fifty years ago it was believed best to go to work immediately after graduating from High School. Working, it was believed matured the mind and taught the individual that life was not all fun and games. Today, it is the opposite. One is rushed or rushes into college as soon as possible. Whatever for? Does reading more books make one more intelligent?

If that were the case today's elementary school children would be a lot smarter than they were 20 years ago, but that is not the case. Tests seem to indicate the opposite. The blame is placed on the teachers who are accused of caring more for their jobs and wages than the success of their teaching arts.

This is not meant to be another diatribe against the teachers union. Far from it. It is meant to stem the indebtedness thrust on our young by the enormous cost of “higher” education. There are so many ways to earn a living without having to pay for learning it. Many of these are honorable jobs. Unfortunately however, in today's world, they don't earn million or billions, but they do earn sufficient wages to live a good life.

There would be no social order if there were no civil order. So, we may come to understand that a job in Sanitation may be more life serving than one in legal matters. Policing may be more lifesaving than teaching. And how about all those other wonderful jobs too numerous to mention, but all so necessary masonry, painting, plumbing, cooking, driving, cleaning, sewing, etc.

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