Eureka High Closing Auto Shop
I'm not sure what to think about the school board shutting down Eureka High School's auto shop program. I was appalled at first. I think it's important that kids learn skills they can use to get jobs later on in life.
Then I read the enrollment figures the Times- Standard published: 31 students for Auto 1, 11 for Auto 2 and only 1 for Auto 3.
Maybe those classes aren't cost effective? I suspect it costs quite a bit to keep the tools and equipment for those classes up and running. If there's not enough kids interested in using the equipment, is it worth the expense? I'd be curious to see the enrollment figures of other elective classes for comparison.
They're replacing that auto shop with some sort of power mechanics class involving diesel, hydraulics and such. Sounds like a good alternative and maybe auto tech could be incorporated into the class for interested students?
Regardless, I'm not sure this sounds as bad as it first did, so long as kids still have the opportunity to train for useful and needed employment. From what I've seen the auto repair shops are always busy.
posted by Fred Mangels @ 10:14 AM
8 comments
8 Comments:
Back in the day, it was standing room only in order to get into Eureka High Auto Shop. The youth of today is not as nearly as interested in automobiles since there is less in needing a car to socially interact with their friends due to all of the social networking that is currently available. Add in the cost of owning and the complexity of repairing today's autos, this further reduces interest in auto ownership by today's youth.
Many parents today will buy or give an older family car to their children, and pay all or most of the expenses in maintaining it.
Former EHS auto mechanics teacher Larry Hansen once said that if the students of today could repair autos with their touch screen phones and gaming controllers, many students would be ace mechanics.
Funny thing is, you need much more technical knowledge to repair modern cars as they're pretty much run by computers.
On the other hand, quality control is so much better now the simple repairs aren't needed as much. When they are needed, though, it costs the big bucks.
I know a couple people that paid $1500.00 just to have a fuel pump replaced since they have to pull out the engine to get to the pump. That used to be akin to child's play. I did it myself on an older car and I never took auto shop.
"Henchman Of Justice" says,
Craig is absolutely right on - the class was popular and even made news headlines and such with their race car entries.
This makes no sense because you'd think with the after-market car parts industry spurring high school drivers to "soup-up" their cars, that more males and females would want to join the class to learn how to work on their cars.
Maybe, kids are too much video game culture and no longer "hands-on" culture.
Such a shame.
HOJ
Fred,
There are other reasons that I forgot to mention about today's youth's lack of interest in autos, is that California driving requirements and restrictions placed on under 18 drivers is much more considerable than when I was 16.
In addition to the driving restrictions, massive insurance premiums for under 18 drivers is why my children waited until they were past 18 to get a driver's license and to own their first car.
With that said and along with with my first comment, I can see some of the reasons why the auto shop enrollment numbers are down at the local high school level from my EHS auto shop days.
"Henchman Of Justice" says,
How many kids today are on their parents insurance policy as a means to lower costs. Some policies can be written where a driver only drives on weekends, etc...
Looking around at the EHS campus parking lots and still seeing many cars, if not more than back in the 1980's.
Hmmm,
HOJ
HOJ, As of recent,I haven't seen the EHS parking lots during school hours, but some time back I astounded to see how much less cars were parked around the campus as compared to the 90's when I drove by the EHS on a regular basis.
Even when parents put their children on their insurance policies to garner a discount, the premiums are still astounding. My son's under 18 premium would still have been 5 times that of mine at the time.
Here's a link to an article to somewhat corroborates my personal experiences.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100880818
Its just too hard to play on your smartphone with greasy fingers. oh wait they have an app for that. no but seriously kids have just gotten to lazy these days, none of them are in the manual labor anymore.
"Henchman Of Justice" says,
Good words Craig. HOJ noticed some differences too with the parking spaces and their locations. Back in the day, students parked in different areas than they now are due to realignments and such. The only parking areas visible from afar are off "I" Street side or over by NJROTC. Of course, for blocks, students park their cars. Of course, during lunch or other recess, students drive off campus unattended as minors under no care of the school or their parents (Pre-18)
HOJ
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