Parent Power

During placements I've realised just how much influence parents, friends and relatives, and even neighbours can have on young people and their careers. Sometimes it's an apprenticeship offered by a next door neighbour, or a friend of the neighbour, or going into the family business or choosing a course because a friend of a friend says it's good. Some of the students that I've seen in schools say they've got things sorted for when they leave school, but it is very often evident that they have not taken much part in deciding for themselves what it is they really would like to do. For example, one young lad was going to do a heating installation apprenticeship in his dad's firm. When asked why, he said that it was because his dad didn't have anyone in the company who did that. I met somebody's grandmother the other day, who proudly said that her grandson was going to uni. Oh, which one I asked, and she replied, Edinburgh, just like his dad. It made me wonder, had he chosen that destination by himself or was he following expectations. On another occasion a girl told us that her mum and dad didn't rate college that much, but for her it was going to be the best pathway for her to get to uni later on. No discussion took place about her remark, and I think it was a missed opportunity for her to talk about her feelings and to explore ways that she could relate her thinking and goals to her parents. Finally, when I was sitting waiting in an opticians (where I was doing a company visit) I overheard a remark which I think sums up the influence of parents. I think I'm going to remember it for quite a while. Two women were deep in conversation about the subject choice of one of the women's daughter - the mum said, 'I told her - she could only do art if she took two sciences'. Did the girl want to do sciences I wondered? Why did her mother place such importance on science subjects? The question then is, how do we get parents more involved and more informed about all of the options available to their children? In some cases, I think it would be beneficial for parents to be in on interviews, obviously only if the student wanted it. Or maybe if careers education started much earlier and was more integrated into schools throughout a pupil's education it would become more of a natural process, rather than sometimes finding yourself in 5th or 6th year, and making a mad dash decision when you don't have a clue what you really want to do. I know this is only a snapshot of what goes on, but it made me really think about all of the negotiating students might have to face when they are making decisions about their future.