Importance of a High School Diploma/GED

[ABC 123]

I never had to show mine.

I have mixed feelings on this.

In the larger anabaptist world where I have been, 8th grade seems to be the stopping point. This can work well if the student is going into labor trades.

I have seen a few instances where girls in particular were not given enough education or training to operate under any other than domestic circumstances. Not all of them get married and some struggle to cope with earning a living once their dads realize they had 30 something year old dependents.

[mike]

A GED is required to homeschool in my state. I also presented it as part of a college application, but if I wouldn't have had one, I don't know that it would have made a difference. These are the only two times I can remember using it.

[Dan Z]

I never had to show mine.

I have mixed feelings on this.

In the larger anabaptist world where I have been, 8th grade seems to be the stopping point. This can work well if the student is going into labor trades.

I have seen a few instances where girls in particular were not given enough education or training to operate under any other than domestic circumstances. Not all of them get married and some struggle to cope with earning a living once their dads realize they had 30 something year old dependents.

I think this is right - social content is really important. A HS diploma isn't as important if you have a farm or family business or trade to step into. Most of the population doesn't have this social structure advantage however, and even for those who do, a limited education can be a real disadvantage if they ever choose to leave the fold.

Furthermore, I also think a good education has value in and of itself in that it opens up doors, maximizes potential, deepens understanding, and fosters critical thinking and a broader worldview.

[temporal1]

From what i’m gathering, a H.S. diploma is not as crucial as it was in the past. There are GEDs and proficiency tests.
Before “college degrees for everyone!” H.S. diplomas were valuable, and considered a real accomplishment.
They provided most with enough formal ed to begin life as an adult, to find work, start a family, buy a home, et al.

OJT/On the Job Training was also highly valued.
Since, mostly replaced with REQUIRED licenses/certificates (from schools) which i honestly doubt are actually as good as former OJT.
i expect many with now-required licenses/certificates STILL require OJT, in a practical sense, but gov requires certifications (aka, taxes) to get there.

Standards are so low.

i have a H.S. diploma, some college, and i had a certification, not current for years.

i have been “counseled” to LIE about my education, to claim i have a college degree (“no one will check”)!
recently, i was “counseled” to claim i’m on welfare, so as to qualify for gov benefits!

i find these suggestions shocking. they reflect the lack of moral code (i suspect) is widespread.

people see so much incompetence+corruption - at all levels, top to bottom, they believe “everyone is doing it,” so, why not me?

it appears the pandemic may gut standards in education.

when the primary underlying goal is ensuring banks profit from student loans - there will be student loans! no matter what.
nothing will separate banks from guaranteed profits.

DanZ:
good education

agreed.

2013 / “ 'We're just average folks': The family sending all ten of their home-schooled children to college by the age of 12”
Mona Lisa and Kip Harding from Montgomery, Alabama, home-school all ten of their kids - six of whom started college by the age of 12
The remaining four children are ten and under and also aim to go to college early
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/arti ... ge-12.html

i’m not sure about very young H.S. grads attending college so early.
i’m not sure i’d want to be in those shoes. but, these types of reports reflect how much time is wasted in standard public ed.

[RZehr]

For most healthy males in our churches, and only from a financial consideration, I see little to gain from a diploma. But I agree that there are other things besides financial, that Dan mentioned, that might merit education.

[temporal1]

For most healthy males in our churches, and only from a financial consideration, I see little to gain from a diploma. But I agree that there are other things besides financial, that Dan mentioned, that might merit education.

And, education does not stop with graduation. Graduation should be the beginning.

[Ken]

i have been “counseled” to LIE about my education, to claim i have a college degree (“no one will check”)!
recently, i was “counseled” to claim i’m on welfare, so as to qualify for gov benefits!

i find these suggestions shocking. they reflect the lack of moral code (i suspect) is widespread.

Maybe for some jobs that might be the case. But certainly not in my field. I'm currently in the process of taking a position in a different district. And they are requiring official transcripts from every university that I have attended. I can't just provide .pdf copies, they have to be official copies sent directly from the university. So I have to put transcript requests to every school I have attended.

[Neto]

... I also think a good education has value in and of itself in that it opens up doors, maximizes potential, deepens understanding, and fosters critical thinking and a broader worldview.

I agree with Dan's qualifier - a good education. So I would tend to differentiate between the type of education a child will receive in the type of public school system in which most of "our people" would be, and a GED, and some forms of home schooling or some church schools. But also, I think that another very important factor is what some have already touched on to some degree - the way in which the young person hopes to use their education. To some degree, you get the type of education you work for. I already knew that I wanted to be a missionary while I was in Jr & SR high, so I chose courses that I thought would be helpful. And, I graduated with a lot more credits than were necessary. I wanted to take advantage of the free education that was available to me. On the other hand, my wife went through 10th grade, and then her dad forced her to quit. She studied on her own and got a GED, but she said that it was not in the least a challenging curriculum (American School, it was called).

A person can get a good education by self study, but rarely does such a person have the breadth of interest (or determination) to get a well-rounded one. The areas of interest will thrive, but there is little impetus to learn about areas in which you have no interest. That, to me, is one of the main strengths of a formal education - you are forced to learn things you are no interested in (sometimes discovering a new interest in the process).

I'm sure that college entrance personnel know that the GED certificate is of little value, except that it demonstrates the determination of the potential student, something not necessarily shown with a diploma from a formal school. My grandpa only went through 4th grade, and he was an inventor. (My other grandpa went through HS in a German-language church school, but I don't know that he needed it for his work, which was what I would call an old-world farmer. At the same time, education isn't just about getting a lucrative job. It also enriches the person, and unless that factor is included the conclusions will only be measured in dollar signs.)

[Ken]

i have been “counseled” to LIE about my education, to claim i have a college degree (“no one will check”)!
recently, i was “counseled” to claim i’m on welfare, so as to qualify for gov benefits!

i find these suggestions shocking. they reflect the lack of moral code (i suspect) is widespread.

Maybe for some jobs that might be the case. But certainly not in my field. I'm currently in the process of taking a position in a different district. And they are requiring official transcripts from every university that I have attended. I can't just provide .pdf copies, they have to be official copies sent directly from the university. So I have to put transcript requests to every school I have attended.

[Josh]

i have been “counseled” to LIE about my education, to claim i have a college degree (“no one will check”)!
recently, i was “counseled” to claim i’m on welfare, so as to qualify for gov benefits!

i find these suggestions shocking. they reflect the lack of moral code (i suspect) is widespread.

Maybe for some jobs that might be the case. But certainly not in my field. I'm currently in the process of taking a position in a different district. And they are requiring official transcripts from every university that I have attended. I can't just provide .pdf copies, they have to be official copies sent directly from the university. So I have to put transcript requests to every school I have attended.

Most of us don't work in make-work government jobs.