I’m sure many of you have heard about Henrico County Public Schools in Virginia and how they have decided to celebrate groups of students that have maybe been overlooked.

At this time of the year, we often hear of celebrations as high school athletes sign letters of intent to attend certain colleges and play sports. This is a great thing, of course.  So many kiddos work their tails off in their area of extracurricular expertise, and so it’s nice when colleges offer them some fringe benefits.  

Good for them.

My problem with school sports usually lies in the laps of asinine parents who coach from the stands, bully the coaches, and act as though their children are the next sports stars of the millennium.  

But I digress, and I could write about parents until I’m blue in the face. They will never change.

So anyway, these schools in Virginia, and I’m sure they aren’t the only ones, are now celebrating students who have decided to go to trade school, work as an apprentice, or immediately start a career right out of high school.  As more and more kids have found out that college degrees don’t necessarily guarantee a job, there are kids who will forgo college and go right to work – or at least learn on the job.

Again, I think it is fantastic. Apprenticeships make me think of the old days when Benjamin Franklin learned to be a printer from his stern, older brother. I wonder how prevalent apprenticeships are, anyway?

Digressing again. I know.

The thing that really stood out to me in the article I read was how school administration, staff, parents and the kids themselves stated the obvious:  not everyone can or should go to college.

This made me think of a few times in our community’s history when the public came out in droves to gripe and complain about something the school districts around here had decided to do. If you ever want to be entertained, attend a public forum where most of the people who ask to speak are blowhards who don’t know what in the Sam Hill they are talking about. 

Most are merely griping and complaining because something is affecting their individual child or because something in their life is now uncomfortable.  

Personal agendas. Zeal without knowledge.

I mean really, go to one of these if you get the chance. It’s fun to watch people sit around and bite their lips. The folks who decide to stand up and speak usually have no business being up there. In order to speak, you should be able to pass a test or something.

Still, it makes for good entertainment. Take popcorn.

OK, so at one of these public hearings, a bunch of folks were mad about some decision the school had made, and one lady got up pointing fingers at all the educators in the audience, moaning about how her child had fallen through the cracks and was now struggling and slogging through college, having so many issues and problems.

Most of us sat there and just took it, but I can tell you there were plenty of us who wanted to say “Look lady, you’re kid shouldn’t be going to college. Not every kid should. We’ve been telling you things over the years and you should have known by now that he was going to have issues with college. This isn’t something new. What did you expect?”

Am I saying to you that kids shouldn’t strive for higher education? Am I telling you that if a kid wants to go to college, I mean really wants to go, that they should just put it out of their minds?  

No, I’m not.  

I’m simply saying some kids just aren’t meant to go to college, for a variety of reasons. And if parents were honest and realistic about their children, they would see it too. Encourage your children to head for areas they can succeed in. If your child has a history of struggles with certain things, steer them toward places they have the skills for.

This parent, of course, blamed the years and years of “poor education” for the reason her child was struggling in college. But it wasn’t the fault of the schools. It was the fault of the parents, plain and simple. 

The coddling, the “helicoptering” and the “not my child” mentality. The getting all defensive when the school told her something she didn’t like.

Sometimes the truth has to just be told.  

The thing is, the truth WAS told. This parent had heard for years of how the school was helping and how we were doing our best to support and take care of this kid. In most cases, schools work their patooties off to compensate for kids: that’s our job.  

We support, give them special assistance and work with them so that they can experience success for what they are capable of. We are professionals. We don’t tell you about your child’s struggles because we get a charge out of it. We are telling you something based on our professional experience.  

Listen to us, for goodness sake.

It is refreshing to see that school districts are deciding to celebrate kids across the board, especially kids who have decided they are going to get started with a career, right off the bat. We like to shake our heads and wonder about the next generation, but there are still young folk who want to do well and who want to work; some who already have a work ethic that will put them head and shoulders above the rest. 

These kids recognized that college wasn’t an option for them, and so they pursued other avenues.  

Bravo.