Are migrant parents pushing their kids too hard at school?

[QuantumJG]

Only in Australia are high academic standards a bad thing.

Only in Australia is it easy for high school-dropout tradies to earn more than professionals with post-grad qualifications. System needs fixin'

So true.

Exactly! I'm the first in my family (not just immediate) to go to uni and let me tell you, my cousin is an electrician and is already rolling in the dough. Me a uni student will rack up a 15k debt for my BSc and I don't even want to know what it will be for masters. All of this just because I decided to put off that gratification of earning straight away and pursuing studies I love.

Don't get me wrong I would not change a thing and feel so privelliged to get to learn what I do, but it's going to kind of suck knowing that my professional life won't start until I'm atleast in my mid 20's (thats if I do well next year (to get into masters) and then in masters and decide to bite the bullet and go for the PhD - that requires an H2A in masters so it is definitely not a given).

Having said that, we are lucky we are not in America where the cost of uni is so high it's ridiculous.

[Eriny]

Only in Australia are high academic standards a bad thing.

Only in Australia is it easy for high school-dropout tradies to earn more than professionals with post-grad qualifications. System needs fixin' and that's what the migrants are doing, incl. my parents I suppose, but they don't really push me to study, they just stand back a bit and expect me to ace everything, and if I don't, they think something's really wrong and I get a concerned, disappointed and slightly angry talking to.

Your attitude needs fixing. Why is a professional job necessarily more valuable than trades skills? We need both.

[MBBS]

Building on what Eriny said, I would hope that you choose to study a field you have a genuine interest in. Why then, should you be payed more for doing what you love as opposed to someone who is working their ass off in a boring job for the rest of their life?

[stonecold]

Only in Australia are high academic standards a bad thing.

Only in Australia is it easy for high school-dropout tradies to earn more than professionals with post-grad qualifications. System needs fixin' and that's what the migrants are doing, incl. my parents I suppose, but they don't really push me to study, they just stand back a bit and expect me to ace everything, and if I don't, they think something's really wrong and I get a concerned, disappointed and slightly angry talking to.

Your attitude needs fixing. Why is a professional job necessarily more valuable than trades skills? We need both.

Because a lot of trades people are a shame to their field of work.  All they are interested is finding every excuse under the sun to get out of doing their job, and stereotypically they are uneducated.  

Some tradespeople are complete tools, which granted, these types of people exist in all professions, but more so in trades than anywhere else.

I'll never forget the time two idiot young tradies were yelling at each other in my house trying to find a wire whilst attempting to install an air conditioning unit.

Of course we need tradespeople, but they seriously need to lift their attitude.

[stonecold]

Building on what Eriny said, I would hope that you choose to study a field you have a genuine interest in. Why then, should you be payed more for doing what you love as opposed to someone who is working their ass off in a boring job for the rest of their life?

I am of the opinion that most people go to TAFE and then enter a trade because they are too lazy to work hard and get an education rather than because they find it a more stimulating career option.  It suits their bludgy lifestyle perfectly.

Again, I would like to reiterate that I am not talking about all tradies, but a certain group of them.

[kendraaaaa]

Building on what Eriny said, I would hope that you choose to study a field you have a genuine interest in. Why then, should you be payed more for doing what you love as opposed to someone who is working their ass off in a boring job for the rest of their life?

I am of the opinion that most people go to TAFE and then enter a trade because they are too lazy to work hard and get an education rather than because they find it a more stimulating career option.  It suits their bludgy lifestyle perfectly.

Again, I would like to reiterate that I am not talking about all tradies, but a certain group of them.

Was totally preparing my rage-cannon until I read your last sentence. Nice save, nice save.

[Eriny]

I don't know, I guess I'm sensitive about the issue because my dad is a tradie, but I think that people tend to have one or two bad experiences with them and then assume that all of them are bad. But, there are incompetent people in any job, incompetent CEOs, incompetent lawyers, incompetent salespeople, incompetent tellers, incompetent teachers, etc...

[funkyducky]

Only in Australia are high academic standards a bad thing.

Only in Australia is it easy for high school-dropout tradies to earn more than professionals with post-grad qualifications. System needs fixin' and that's what the migrants are doing, incl. my parents I suppose, but they don't really push me to study, they just stand back a bit and expect me to ace everything, and if I don't, they think something's really wrong and I get a concerned, disappointed and slightly angry talking to.

Your attitude needs fixing. Why is a professional job necessarily more valuable than trades skills? We need both.

I'm not saying trades skills aren't valuable, although, with the automation available with 21st century technologies, plus the trend towards cheap outsourcing, the need for tradespeople will decline in certain fields, eg. factory workers, wharfies, carpenters.

What I'm saying is, professional people dedicate a lot of time and money to getting university degrees and often run up high debt before they've gotten their first job in their field. The path to becoming a tradie is much easier, and understandably tempting for many teenagers; there's a widespread mentality in our age bracket of "why should I work any harder than I have to, when I could make just as much money as a tradie?"
There's not much incentive for middle-band kids to go to uni. Only 3% of the world's population has a university-level education (last time I checked ). Kids in the position where both a trade and a profession are viable career options should have an equal opportunity to choose which of the two would give them the most job satisfaction without factors such as money determining the outcome.

[Eriny]

I agree with that, but it doesn't mean that they should have to go to uni if they don't want to either.

[Cthulhu]

Tradies are the people that fix the shit you fuck up. They build your houses, unclog your toilets, fix your electrical systems, fix your roof after big storms etc etc and they should be paid less than someone who sits at a desk all day?

Edit: Sorry for this post. My dad's a tradie and works really fucking hard. It's a sensitive topic.

[stonecold]

Tradies are the people that fix the shit you fuck up. They build your houses, unclog your toilets, fix your electrical systems, fix your roof after big storms etc etc and they should be paid less than someone who sits at a desk all day?

Edit: Sorry for this post. My dad's a tradie and works really fucking hard. It's a sensitive topic.

It is fine.  Lots of people in my family are tradies too.  I'll be the first to even get a tertiary education.

Like I said, it is a specific group of them though.  They don't want to work hard, and do half assed jobs.

My dad moved house and I go to my new room to find that the stupid foxtel contractor has run one cable to one side of the room, and another to the other side of the room.  It looks ridiculous. Sheer laziness. 

Then I remember the time a plumber severed a pipe under our house, didn't say anything, and then a month later our house was flooded.

Too many bad experiences with these types of careless people seriously anger me.  There are loads more.  Have had some good ones too though.

It is a shame that more of them do not take pride in their work.  That is all I am saying.

[TrueLight]

ha those crappy ones should go out of business!
did u get the foxtel thing sorted out?

[funkyducky]

Tradies work hard - the honest, dedicated ones anyway. In any career, there are going to be people who work their ass off to earn a living, and people who don't make any effort whatsoever. A lot of the work that tradespeople do is physically demanding, but a lot kids our age just see it as a chance to slack off, because in the short-term, it's a much, much easier path to take than higher education.
In the long term though, the tradies' work gets harder, but not many of the slacker kids have the foresight to understand that.

I still stand by the point I made before, though.

Oh and ZOMG, my foxtel's been buggy! But apparently we're getting a new set-top box for free, on account of the signal dropping every few hours. This has nothing to do with anything. I haven't even watched anything on foxtel in months.

[TrueLight]

"but a lot kids our age just see it as a chance to slack off"

how do u define "alot" ? and how do u know this?
if someone really wanted to get into uni or tafe they would try to get in

and besides whats wrong with slackers? if they become too slack on the job then obviously no one will hire them if they cant do the job

[funkyducky]

My friend goes to a rather liberal/progressive school, which he says is FULL of slackers, who just want to go into construction work because they think it will be a breeze.

I spose that's not particularly conclusive evidence.