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Comment by aleph_minus_one | Hacker News Reader

> It's really striking though that a person graduating high school in say, 1970, could easily pick from a number of career choices even without doing college or even learning an in-demand trade, like plumbing, welding, etc. [...] Those are the days that are super gone

Isn't this rather a strong argument for the claim that what high school as of today teaches is a strong mismatch with what the labour market demands? In other words: the pupils are taught skills for many years of their life that are rather worthless for the job market.

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This is true, but I dont think high school was ever intended to be preparing kids for the labor market; I thought it was to teach a basic education for understanding the world.

Until maybe four decades ago, high school was exactly intended to prepare kids for the labor market. They taught conformity, punctuality, the three Rs, and civics. It was the final education for the great majority of people in the US, as few went to college.

But high school and college both got dumbed down, and now an education at a state university is comparable to high school in the first half of the twentieth century.

Schools have always been like that. There's a reason that all of those skilled trades require multi year apprenticeships.

School teaches everybody to read, write and reason about things in general to a decent level. You can't teach high school kids the basics of all the careers out there beyond stuff that's generally applicable - you wouldn't have the time or the equipment. And schools do often have elective shop, cooking, electronics etc classes for those who want to do them.

You can you just choose to treat them as infants for insurance and liability reasons

> And schools do often have elective shop, cooking, electronics etc classes for those who want to do them.

Ha, those were cut from school before I was in high school decades ago.

I think there is a risk to the trades as well. Tradesman service prices are skyrocketing, too. With fewer people able to hire them because they cannot afford it, won't trade jobs fall as well?

I think there's risk in trades like any business, but the world will always need plumbers, electricians, etc. Someone will always find the market price for when people are willing to pay to not have to interact with sewage or potentially get shocked.

> won't trade jobs fall as well?

Why won't tradesman cut their prices?

I hope they would, but in my 40 years of owning homes, prices to have things done double every 7 years. This would mean 10% inflation year over year, but that isn't the case, and wood prices have not gone up that much. Everyone is just charging more because they can. I keep thinking: at some point homeowners won't be able to afford this, but I've been wrong for 4 decades and just keep writing the checks with firmly clenched buttocks every time I need a major repair.

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