Last night was middle school orientation for our dd. It was nice to see the school and her classrooms.

But dh and I had a big problem with the presentations. They really focused on pushing trades instead of college.

They had a 10 minute video on how great trades are, how much money you can make, and that college is over rated. So why not just forget about college and do a trade?

I leaned over to dh and asked, “Are you biting your tongue, too?” He nodded.

Before I get my head bitten off, no, there’s nothing wrong with learning a time-honored trade.  Without it, there’d be much less plumbing, electric, etc. I respect people who can come into my house and fix something I can’t.

The problem I had is that there’s more to college than a degree and money. There’s a certain amount of respect that comes with a degree. People fight for and dream of college.  I did. I put myself through 2 years while holding a job and being a single mom when my dd was a toddler.   I could go on with why a degree is important to me, but I won’t bore you.

I think if one of my boys tried to go to college and hated it and wanted to be a welder or an electrician, I’d be fine with that. Or if he tried out a trade school through high school before college.  But to exclude college (as the presentation was doing) is doing the kids a disservice.