Children 'should be allowed to leave school at 14', claims former CBI chief

[Jazzy]

Children should be allowed to leave school at 14 and start work to boost Britain’s economy, the former head of the Confederation of British Industry has said.



Disruptive pupils would be better off abandoning mainstream education and “earning a few bob” to encourage growth, Lord Jones of Birmingham believes.



The former Labour Trade Minister said British businesses are struggling through a lack of skilled young people, meaning employers are forced to hire workers from overseas.



Allowing youngsters to embark on vocational training and get jobs at 14 would fill the skills gap while stimulating economic growth through increased spending, Lord Jones said.



However teaching leaders warned that the idea would lead to millions of young people becoming “trapped” in low-paid jobs, having dropped out of academic studies without basic levels of literacy and numeracy.



The suggestion comes as official GDP figures show Britain’s economy stagnated between April and June with growth down to 0.2 per cent from the 0.5 per cent expansion seen in the previous quarter.



Rest of article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/educatio...ave-school-at-14-claims-former-CBI-chief.html



Do you think this is a good idea? Why or why not.

 

[The Dragon Master]

14? Bloody hell. I don't think it's right. 14's a bit young to give up education entirely. Maybe a part time job with education on the side? Apprenticeship!

 

[McConnaughay]

I'd see fifteen as being somewhat debatable encase they have to leave school to assist in providing for the family, but even that's a stretch. Fourteen seems like a little bit too young for that decision to be enabled and as said, it could do severe damage to the kids moving fourth in their adult life. If they wanted to allow for younger kids to get jobs to assist in boosting the economy that badly than they could possible consider lessening the time spent in school, or enabling longer breaks. I'm not just saying this out of dislike for school, because this doesn't effect me in anyway because I'm from the states.

 

[Evil Eye]

Sounds an awful lot like child labour...

14? Bloody hell. I don't think it's right. 14's a bit young to give up education entirely. Maybe a part time job with education on the side? Apprenticeship!

And that sounds better.

 

[Jazzy]

Allowing youngsters to embark on vocational training and get jobs at 14 would fill the skills gap while stimulating economic growth through increased spending, Lord Jones said.

What job skills would a 14 year old be able to use to gain employment? The one word in the title of this thread says it all. The word is children. These 14 year old children are not mentally, physically or emotionally mature enough at this age to get a job. Maybe if people like Lord James took a salary decrease that would help stimulate the economy. Does this arse Lord James even have a clue that there are adults in his country that can't find employment!

 

[Flurry]

I think he'd have an easier time of putting the Homeless and the like in these jobs. No way in any of right minds would people let this happen.

 

[seasidemike]

Why wait until they are 14?



Back in the industrial age small kids would be used in factories as technicians. Because they were so small, they could crawl into the still operating machines to make repairs.. sure they lost fingers and arms and stuff, but they were great little workers.

 

[Chatsie]

This is insane !



We already have adults now being made to work longer with changes

in pension age, and now, at the other end they are proposing to have

kids of 14 working !



Given all the job losses that have occurred during the recession through

businesses having to close, just where are all these extra jobs going to come from ?

As Jazzy has said above, we already have so many adults who cannot find work.



I wonder what the 'minimum wage' for a 14 yr old would be ?

 

[Bluezone777]

Ah yes, just one more attempt to turn the clock back to the 19th century where children held jobs, safety rules didn't exist and pay was almost nothing. That's the sort of future I would want for this and future generations because you just know that's where they want to take that country. Somehow I can just see someone actually thinking that was a good idea. Frightened? I would be.

 

[Cranos]

I actually don't think it's such a bad idea. Young people being hired and trained in a field sounds reasonable. Honestly, unless you're aiming for higher education most of the things you learn in the last 3 years of secondary school are useless anyway.



Though of course there are better ways to accomplish the goal of getting skilled young people, like a part-time deal where they still go to school a few days in the week and technical schools where they could learn a trade and still receive some other education.

 

[Sam.]

Are you kidding? I wouldn't even trust 17 and 18 year olds to care for themselves and be a reliable employee, so you can imagine how miserably I think 14 year olds would fail at that.

 

[McConnaughay]

Why wait until they are 14?



Back in the industrial age small kids would be used in factories as technicians. Because they were so small, they could crawl into the still operating machines to make repairs.. sure they lost fingers and arms and stuff, but they were great little workers.

That's the spirit! I'm just glad that they didn't get blood on the machines and for that, we thank you.

 

[Sinon]

Apparently last time i posted here it didn't actually post. Oh well.



This is completely pointless. When I was 14, I did a work experience placement with a local auto shop for two weeks, in order to prepare young people for work. However, it didn't work at all, because there are so many laws, legislations, and most of all insurance issues that prevent under-18s from doing...basically anything at all.



In the auto shop, I wasn't able to use machinery (lifts, drills, torches etc.), touch the insides of cars, carry heavy items (tires, bumpers, doors) work on their computer systems (bookings, servicing notices, etc) all because at 14, insurance simply doesn't cover them should I A. get injured, B. break something, or C. a customer takes offence and sues for something I say/do.



In the store I work at, there are many pitfalls with insurance and laws that prevent us from hiring under-18s (because we sell age-restricted products, and because of the size of the store there's only 2 staff members working at any time) an under-18 would leave us unable to do other work, as our main selling point is alcohol. This is also why, but not actually designated, the reason we cannot hire people with debilitating mental illnesses. It sounds cruel, but having someone who doesn't understand dealing with people on a daily basis is no good to us.



At the age of 14, I was an idiot. At the age of 16 I was still an idiot. I'm pretty sure employers don't want idiots working for them, which is why so many places don't want to hire an under-18. At 18 you're legally an adult. Before that, your actions aren't punished the way they should be because you're, in the eyes of the law, a child.



So yeah, this is a stupid idea.