The Future of Our High School Grads

This is a happy time throughout NEPA with the high school graduations of thousands of students.  Both boys and girls dawn their caps and gowns for this glorious event while parents snap picture after picture of their proud graduate.  There will be lots of graduation parties where family and friends gather to honor the new high school graduate and to shower them with gifts and praise.  It is a joyous time of celebration and yes, it should be.  Thirteen years prior to their graduation, they were little 5 year old's going to kindergarten for the first time.  During these 12 years, they have had to endure many teachers, some good and some not so good.  In fact, some were most likely useless sacks of you know what that had no business stepping foot in a school.  They had to endure the jump from elementary school to middle school, which is like a jump to hyper-idiot-space.  During their time in middle school, they had to endure at least one episode of being verbally or physically attacked by some knucklehead who made it his or her job to bully as many kids as possible.  When they made it through what could be a miserable time, they were now ready for high school at the age of 14 years old.  They were now thrown into the fire where they had to compete with 18 year old thugs.  Many of our kids were like lambs being sent to the slaughter.  However, they make it through and are now getting that high school diploma.  The "Get Out Of Jail Free" card that paves the way to college.

Oh, college!  This is where our kids can really make a difference.  This is where they will specialize in a field that they chose when they were 17 years old.  At this age do we really think these kids know what they want to do for the rest of their lives?  Probably not.  They are guided into a field by state sanctioned tests and by high school guidance counselors who really don't give a rats ass what they do once they leave high school.  Our children pick a college and off they go, oblivious to what is in front of them for the next few years.  They will meet new people, they will learn how to study on their own and they will rack up a mountain of debt through the use of college loans.  Hell, no one can really afford to go to college these days without burying themselves in debt.

According to CNN Money, the average college loan debt that students start their adult lives with is $25,250.  Now that is the average.  If your child attends a university like Wilkes, they will rack up and average debt of $41,234 per semester for a resident student or $164,936 for their 4 years , which actually makes me wanna puke.  If your kid is a genius and attends Harvard, they will be looking at borrowing up to $62,950 per year or $251,800 for a 4 year degree.  All of this debt is immediately heaped onto our brand new college graduate and will remain with them for at least 10 years of their lives.  What a way to start their adult lives out in the real world.  They are up to their eyeballs in debt before they even find a job in the field that they have been educated for if they find a job.  It just doesn't seem right.  In many cases, these new graduates desperately take mindless positions outside their fields just to pay the bills.  Also in many cases, they actually never find a job in the field that they just went into massive debt for.  Its a crime against the young!

To sum it up, congratulations to all of you high school graduates and their parents out there.  You should all be proud of what you have accomplished over the past 12 years.  It was a difficult road to hoe and you made it through.  If you are going to further your education, I want to wish you good luck in the future.  You are going to need it!       

Comments