Something is adrift, isn’t it? Too many parents – good parents – seem to be complaining about, or joking about, their children’s lack of respect. Too many teachers are having to deal with idiots performing “devious licks” or worse. And while the schools have their hands full keeping kids from ripping out toilets, on the home front we have to compete with the internet, where our kids immediately fact-check anything we tell them, thus further eroding our parental powers. I want my powers back!
Remember the good old days, when all your mother had to say was “just wait until your father gets home,” and we all cowered in fear of the man we thought we knew, but maybe didn’t really know, because he was at the office all day? Did you ever think that you would miss those days? Now our kids see us all the time, working from home in our sweatpants, and the illusion of the mysterious father is gone. Is there an Elks club or something I can join that can advise me on how to get my mystery back? Boy, Dad had it good.
It doesn’t sound much better out there in the working world. Talk to any business owner and they’ll tell you that no one wants to work anymore, especially young people. National news articles come out every week saying that men between the ages of 20 and 50 keep vanishing from the workforce, and nobody can figure out where they are. Has anyone checked their parents’ basements? Wherever they are, what the hell are they doing for money? How many people can make a living off YouTube videos? Man, it’s getting weird out there, and I haven’t even broached politics yet! Don’t worry, I…
Ok, maybe I will. Politics have always been ugly and irrational, but does it seem to you like a lot of Americans have lost pride in being American altogether? Before you say, “oh boy, here we go,” just hear me out. This is not meant to sew discord between any two groups, but simply an observation that regardless of religion, race, politics or background, there seems to be a lot less national pride than there was say, eighty, fifty, or even thirty years ago. Fair? I hope that I’m wrong, but it certainly feels that way. I mean, if everyone who said they were going to move to Canada when either Trump or Biden got elected, actually moved to Canada, there sure would be a lot of cheap real estate around. Man, I wish people were true to their word.
But all kidding aside, I think a day is coming where we may need to consider something dramatic in this country to instill some more national pride. Better yet, something to build up our mutual respect for each other while giving our nation’s youth a sense of belonging and purpose. Something that will hopefully motivate people as they map out their lives and possibly even help develop their charitable spirit. Something out of the box. Something like… a mandatory year of civil service between high school and college. Wait, wait, don’t leave yet! Bear with me for a minute!
There could be a number of ways a mandatory civil service program could be rolled out. If people are dead set on entering college at age eighteen, they could do their service requirement during the summer months. If they don’t want to give up a summer or two, they can do a year in-between high school and college. And as far as what someone could choose as their service, the opportunities are endless. They could work at shelters or build trails. They could build homes or perform a municipal job. They could support law enforcement, firefighters, our court systems, or town works. They could assist with hospital care or help out at rehab centers. There is no shortage of possibilities, including, of course, our armed services. Students could volunteer for service at any military branch without having all the requirements that come with full duty.
These don’t have to be non-paying opportunities either. Just like the WPA back in the day, these roles could be paying ones so that young people can support themselves while contributing in some way to the public sector. And think of what a well-chosen year of service could mean in terms of life experience! Kids could use this chance to figure out what they may really want to do with their lives, or at least figure out what the hell it is they are going to do with the opportunity of college, should they be lucky enough to attend. Who knows, maybe this program could also be the launching point for those who can’t afford to go to college on their own, where service is rewarded with a college education. And for the ones whose parents can afford college, a little service never dampened anyone’s appreciation for what they’ve been given, has it?
I know some kids have it all figured out at an early age, but the lion share of us were still struggling to figure it out well into our twenties. I know for me personally, having a year to understand how life operated in our country, before entering college, could have been incredibly helpful in guiding my future career choices. I would have loved having some exposure to the military, or firefighting, or civil engineering (or anything!) to know whether it was something I wanted to pursue further. Or even simply to have an experience different than the path I set for myself in college. Either way, something like this would give some real-world experience to our youth while helping the public sector establish a pathway for its citizens to see if a public sector job is something they might be interested in. Win-win.
It’s just a weekend thought. Is it too extreme? I get that a mandatory anything in the land of the free is probably dead on arrival, but are there any other holes in my thinking? It feels like if something doesn’t change out there, we’re going to be heading in the same direction as all those people drinking Big Gulps from their La-Z-Boys in “Wall-E”. So maybe it’s worth considering that if our citizens feel like they have some skin in developing the national fabric, it will actually help keep them from someday tearing it apart. Maybe?