[vogt]

Yes, practical exposure to any industry - particularly ones the teenager has an interest in - is a great thing.

I went to what was called a “vocational” high school in the US. In schools like this you rotate between a week of academic class and a week of your chosen specialization. Every week for four years. I was in the “graphic design and publishing” shop so I was learning Photoshop, Illustrator and running offset lithographic printers (small ones lol) with actual industry vets. Other students had auto body, facilities management, electrical, cosmetology, nursing. Freshman year is called your “exploratory” year, where you select something like ~8 of the available trades the school has on offer, with the end goal being you try them and figure out which to commit to. I remember going through Culinary Arts and nearly spilling a bowl of hot soup all over a table of elderly people. That line of work was never in the cards for me.

I’m not in graphic design anymore and “desktop publishing” barely exists as it did then, but the path certainly lead me to where I am today. I have NO clue what I’d be doing without that education.