There’s this idea floating around that if a kid isn’t “college material,” we should just push them into the trades. After all, trades are supposed to be the easier, more practical option, right? It’s a convenient way to shuffle struggling students off the academic path and into something “hands-on,” but let’s be real: this mentality is setting these kids up for failure.
The Lie We Tell Ourselves
First off, let’s dispel the myth that trade jobs are some sort of easy fallback. People seem to think that because a job involves using your hands, it doesn’t require a sharp mind or serious skills. Newsflash: that’s complete nonsense. Whether you’re wiring a house, fixing an engine, or installing plumbing, you’re dealing with technical information that has no room for error. One wrong move, and suddenly you’re looking at a botched job, safety hazards, or thousands of dollars down the drain.
My twenty-year-old son is currently pursuing his journeyman as an electrician. He was always intelligent, but in school he didn’t have good study habits, and his dyslexia made some tasks difficult. He has had to cultivate an enormous amount of self-discipline and improve his time management and study habits in order to excel in his field. But it was something he really wanted. He’s ambitious, tenacious, and driven. He’s thriving. But for every kid like my son, there are a half-dozen other young men who wash out of the profession they assumed would be an easy ticket to big money. So there they are, twenty years old, trying to figure out what they can do to create a career without college or trade school. FYI…not a lot.
If a student is struggling with academics—especially in areas like attention to detail, reading comprehension, and memory—they’re not going to magically thrive just because they’re doing something physical. In fact, they might find it even more frustrating.
Attention to Detail: It’s Not Optional
In the trades, details aren’t just important—they’re everything. You think you can afford to overlook something? Think again. Messing up the details in these jobs can lead to disaster, plain and simple. My son works with the type of voltage that could literally make a human body explode into smithereens if he grabs the wrong wire. Yet, we’re pushing kids who can’t focus in a classroom into careers where focus is literally life or death? Make it make sense.
Technical Knowledge: Not for the Faint of Heart
Then there’s the technical side of things. People love to gloss over the fact that trades require a ton of specialized knowledge. We’re talking about years of study and practice just to get competent, let alone excel. My son has to take online courses that he must self-pace—AFTER working 10 hours on the job. He has to pass timed, multiple-choice tests that require careful reading of technical specs. And guess what? If a student has been struggling to retain information or grasp complex subjects in school, that problem isn’t going to disappear just because the setting has changed. It’s still going to be an uphill battle.
Reading Skills: No One Talks About This, But They Should
Oh, and here’s a fun fact: reading is a huge part of trade work. Safety manuals, technical instructions, building codes—all of this requires strong reading comprehension. If a kid can barely make it through a paragraph without getting lost, what do we think is going to happen when they have to navigate a stack of documents just to do their job? This is where the whole “just put them in a trade” mentality falls apart.
Setting Them Up to Fail
Pushing kids into the trades without addressing their academic struggles is like throwing them into the deep end of a pool and then wondering why they’re drowning. It’s irresponsible and frankly, it’s cruel. We’re setting these students up to fail in a system that demands more from them than they’re currently equipped to handle.
Do Better for Our Students
Instead of funneling struggling students into the trades as some sort of last resort, how about we actually address the root of the problem? How about we give these kids the support they need to succeed in whatever path they choose, whether that’s a trade, college, or something else entirely? It’s time to stop pretending that trades are an easy way out and start giving all students the solid academic foundation they deserve. Because if we keep pushing them into careers they’re not prepared for, the only thing we’re building is a future full of frustration and failure.
Tags: trade careers, academic struggles, pushing students into trades, attention to detail in trades, technical knowledge in trades, reading skills for trade jobs, setting students up for failure, vocational education, alternative education paths, hands-on careers, supporting struggling students, trade job challenges, academic support for students, preparing students for trades, student success in trades.
