Note: I added this to the end of another discussion thread by accident, and meant to have it as a new topic. I apologize.


Something we rarely focus-on at ALIPAC is getting our own kids interested again in the value of hard work, mowing lawns, learning how to do simple carpentry (I admit that I'm not the best in this area, although I'm trying), cleaning, mowing lawns, planting flowers, learning about farms and farm animals, etc. We've done a good job of sending them to college, being technically saavy, etc, but have gotten away from outdoor work and the trades (carpentry, plumbing, masonry, etc).

How can we, either as a group or individuals, get back into doing this, and encouraging others? If our kids were interested again in this, or at least willing to try it, as opposed to constant video games, computer interaction, texting, lack of sports, etc, we'd get more people in landscaping, more people in the trades, etc, and the perceived need for illegal labor would decrease. We place way too much emphasis on college these days...it's important for some people, but for others, it will not get them a good job, and they'll just be in debt from the experience.

It's a side of the equation that rarely gets discussed at ALIPAC, but I think bears some discussion. In more rural parts of the country, kids are already busy with part time jobs, working during the summer, etc. In more affluent areas, there are many who don't even bother. Or their parents don't want them to work. Some kids are blocked by illegal labor already (hard to work at McDonald's if you are the only one who doesn't speak Spanish, as an example) but if we teach our kids, and encourage our local communities, to get kids to volunteer on farms, mow the neighbors grass (mow mom and dad's grass), clean the bathroom (the proper way), learn how to use a hammer and saw, etc, we would do these kids a favor. Things are different now and kids need to learn the value of hard work, and be exposed to blue collar work, or we may never reach them.

Maybe this involves going to the school board and demanding that kids have more industrial arts, more opportunities to learn a trade, etc. Maybe it means going to local businesses and saying, "Hey, will you take a chance on some teenagers, instead of adult immigrants?" They need to learn the value of work and it will help all of us in the long run.

I hope that some of you can appreciate what I am trying to say. And can think of some ways to expand upon it.

Ostrich