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Shop Class 2.0: Rethinking High School to Accelerate Electrification

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Re: Shop Class 2.0: Rethinking High School to Accelerate Electrification

#21

Post by mason55 »

BluePen7 wrote: post #11

It's funny, in high school due to social perceptions I didn't align myself with the "shop kids", and took exclusively computer-based electives. It's led me to a lucrative career in programming, but now all my hobbiest time is actually spent learning the same hands-on skills I would have gotten in shop class, I love doing automotive repairs, I even learned how to fix my own AC system, and want to learn to weld. Electr…

Grab some Arduinos, LEDs and buttons/switches and you'll learn about electricity pretty quickly with no real risk. It'll get you to a point where you should be comfortable enough working on mains electricity because you'll understand what's dangerous and what isn't.

And if you're in the US and a healthy adult, you're probably not going to kill yourself if you take a zap at 120V/15A.

Re: Shop Class 2.0: Rethinking High School to Accelerate Electrification

#22

Post by sybercecurity »

photochemsyn wrote: post #4

Good idea - but practically, we'd have to raise the minimum wage to make these jobs attractive to young people, and a national infrastructure program would also be needed to provide the financing. Otherwise we'll just continue to slide towards a system of wealthy enclaves surrounded by miles of slums, and slum dwellers can't afford to pay for construction upgrades. Granted, wealthy enclave dwellers will be providing…

It's not the pay, it's the social status. As other commenters have noted, a skilled tradesman can make a competitive salary. However, ask most white-collar, college educated people if they want their children to go into the trades, I wager the majority will say "no" and believe they need to get a college degree and work in a profession (or simply an office job). In the US, there is a stereotype that only those unable to get into college work in trades as a consolation prize.

Re: Shop Class 2.0: Rethinking High School to Accelerate Electrification

#23

Post by marpstar »

It's such an obvious problem. It's hard enough to get an electrician to come check your place for a basic job -- how do we expect to even simply build enough charging stations so that the average consumer doesn't need to think about taking a 500mi trip?

I wonder if the average person thinks that something like a Tesla charging station is something that's manufactured somewhere far away from them and just plugged in to a the nearest power line. "We have electricity everywhere so it's just a matter of time" mentality.

We drove kids to college under the guise of "you'll be fucked if you don't" while simultaneously sounding the alarm on climate change but didn't think to try and connect the two problems to anticipate the solution 30 years ago?

Re: Shop Class 2.0: Rethinking High School to Accelerate Electrification

#24

Post by reportingsjr »

cinntaile wrote: post #19
cptcobalt wrote: post #6

I work in renewable energy, and have started to get my hands on electrical work here and there—this is a serious space of opportunity for people starting their careers. Not every job needs to be (nor can be) a desk job, and with the advent of AI tools, you'll still have many hands-one roles in the field. Much of the difficulty of getting solar and home battery storage (like Powerwall) is because there is such a short…

Installing solar och batteries yourself is not legal in most places I presume. It's not here at least.

Not true in most of the US, you do need to get engineered drawings, permits, etc which can be challenging for the average person.

Re: Shop Class 2.0: Rethinking High School to Accelerate Electrification

#25

Post by triyambakam »

cinntaile wrote: post #19
cptcobalt wrote: post #6

I work in renewable energy, and have started to get my hands on electrical work here and there—this is a serious space of opportunity for people starting their careers. Not every job needs to be (nor can be) a desk job, and with the advent of AI tools, you'll still have many hands-one roles in the field. Much of the difficulty of getting solar and home battery storage (like Powerwall) is because there is such a short…

Installing solar och batteries yourself is not legal in most places I presume. It's not here at least.

Where is here for you? Sweden?

Re: Shop Class 2.0: Rethinking High School to Accelerate Electrification

#26

Post by sanderjd »

NotYourLawyer wrote: post #12
BluePen7 wrote: post #11

It's funny, in high school due to social perceptions I didn't align myself with the "shop kids", and took exclusively computer-based electives. It's led me to a lucrative career in programming, but now all my hobbiest time is actually spent learning the same hands-on skills I would have gotten in shop class, I love doing automotive repairs, I even learned how to fix my own AC system, and want to learn to weld. Electr…

This is pretty common. If you sit at a desk typing all day, you get home and want to do something physical.

The grass is always greener: Lots of people who work with their hands envy us sitting at our climate controlled desks all day (doing god-knows-what).

Although they do often tell me "oh I could never actually do that, I'd lose my mind". Which of course many of us do :)

Re: Shop Class 2.0: Rethinking High School to Accelerate Electrification

#27

Post by ender341341 »

fn-mote wrote: post #18

Just read the recent HN reponses to "The skilled trades haven't caught as a career choice [...]" [1]. Until an article addresses that, it's just wishful thinking. This article does address the push for all kids to college. Read comments at [2] as well. Very useful comments about the barriers to entry: [3]. My own biggest concerns would be: 1. Popular anti-union perception: bad for recruitment, and bad once you're in.…

> 1. Popular anti-union perception: bad for recruitment, and bad once you're in.

The doublethink I hear on unions is crazy.

I have multiple family in the trades that are un-unioned and their statements are along the lines of:

- They constantly bitch about how horrible unions are

- Oh, {insert company here} workers voted to unionize? the unions just gonna fuck 'em over

- All the people they started with who moved to unions are retired with well funded retirement funds and they really should have gone union when they were young.

Re: Shop Class 2.0: Rethinking High School to Accelerate Electrification

#28

Post by sanderjd »

cptcobalt wrote: post #6

I work in renewable energy, and have started to get my hands on electrical work here and there—this is a serious space of opportunity for people starting their careers. Not every job needs to be (nor can be) a desk job, and with the advent of AI tools, you'll still have many hands-one roles in the field. Much of the difficulty of getting solar and home battery storage (like Powerwall) is because there is such a short…

Something that really frustrates me is that modern society doesn't seem to provide many opportunities for balance when it comes to work. I don't think I'd enjoy (and can't currently afford to) be a full time electrician. But I think some mix of doing professional electrical work and building software sounds pretty great. But expertise is critical and it's hard to build it by splitting time.

Re: Shop Class 2.0: Rethinking High School to Accelerate Electrification

#29

Post by lowkeyoptimist »

sybercecurity wrote: post #22
photochemsyn wrote: post #4

Good idea - but practically, we'd have to raise the minimum wage to make these jobs attractive to young people, and a national infrastructure program would also be needed to provide the financing. Otherwise we'll just continue to slide towards a system of wealthy enclaves surrounded by miles of slums, and slum dwellers can't afford to pay for construction upgrades. Granted, wealthy enclave dwellers will be providing…

It's not the pay, it's the social status. As other commenters have noted, a skilled tradesman can make a competitive salary. However, ask most white-collar, college educated people if they want their children to go into the trades, I wager the majority will say "no" and believe they need to get a college degree and work in a profession (or simply an office job). In the US, there is a stereotype that only those unable…

I think it might be more that a lot of people aren't willing to do manual labor if they have an alternative that pays as much or more. Even some contractors and electricians I have spoken to have steered their children away from trades not because of status, but that it can be really tough on your body and health.

Re: Shop Class 2.0: Rethinking High School to Accelerate Electrification

#30

Post by mock-possum »

BluePen7 wrote: post #11

It's funny, in high school due to social perceptions I didn't align myself with the "shop kids", and took exclusively computer-based electives. It's led me to a lucrative career in programming, but now all my hobbiest time is actually spent learning the same hands-on skills I would have gotten in shop class, I love doing automotive repairs, I even learned how to fix my own AC system, and want to learn to weld. Electr…

Yeah I really regret not doing auto shop, wood shop, and metal shop in highschool.
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