Now that we have defined a Workforce Time-Line we can discuss the challenges that the Workforce faces, and how they affect the education and health of the Workforce. Before we go forward there are three critical points that need to be highlighted.
1. The bond between mother and child is a natural wonder! Any attempt to replace the mother in that bond (i.e., father, other family members, or professional daycare programs) will have significant negative effects on the child’s brain development during the Pre-School years.
2. Without exception, physical and mental stress will always have a negative effect on the brain and body (i.e., education and health).
3. The government’s actions are determined by the Congress; where two political parties fight for control of the government (i.e., party before people and country), and special interest groups put profit before country (i.e., manipulation of the legislative process). The Congress is a huge STRESS GENERATOR!
Having established these critical points, let’s start with the most important part of the Workforce Time-Line; the Pre-School years.
PRE-SCHOOL…WOMB – 5 YEARS OLD
* Manipulation of the legislative process (i.e., highlighted point #3) results in economic conditions (i.e., one full-time salary can not support a family) that force a family to break the mother/child bond (i.e., highlighted point #1); a huge STRESS GENERATOR!
* Early negative experiences affect the development of brain architecture which provides the foundation for all future learning, behavior, and health. LOST BRAIN DEVELOPMENT IS IRREVERSIBLE!!!
* America is failing mothers! From shamefullly short maternity leaves to crushing childcare costs, from high maternal death rates to uneven distribution of household chores. It is harder to be a mother in America than any other developed country. Other countries recognize the importance of having a stay-at-home parent from birth through the teenage years, and pay a stipend for each child.
* THE MOST IMPORTANT JOB IN THE WORKFORCE TIME-LINE IS A STAY-AT-HOME MOM ! APPROXIMATELY ONLY 1 IN 5 AMERICAN MOTHERS WITH CHILDREN ARE STAY-AT- HOME MOMS!
* As a family leaves the Pre-School years the child’s brain development has been negatively impacted due to the breaking of the mother/child bond, and the entire family is dealing with physical, emotional, and financial STRESS (i.e., highlighted point #2). LOST BRAIN DEVELOPMENT IS IRREVERSIBLE!
GRADES K-12…AGE 6 – 18 YEARS OLD
* The relative decline of American education has long been a national embarrassment, as well as a threat to the nation’s future; another STRESS GENERATOR!
* America’s students are not progressing to catch up to their peers in other industrialized nations; another STRESS GENERATOR!
* Students are promoted through the system unprepared for success at each new grade level; another STRESS GENERATOR!
* Rigorous and comprehensive curriculum is sacrificed to prepare students for required standardized tests; another STRESS GENERATOR!
* The government and the general public do not realize the impact that education has on the country’s economic strength. The public considers education to be a secondary career with a ten-month year and minor stress. That attitude creates the opposite effect, TREMENDOUS STRESS IN THE SYSTEM!
* Funding of education is left to the private sector, resulting in large differences in knowledge from state to state; another STRESS GENERATOR!
* Manipulation of the legislative process results in the high cost of prescription drugs and health care coverage; another STRESS GENERATOR!
* ALL THE TIME THAT A STUDENT AND ITS FAMILY SPEND GOING THROUGH GRADES K – 12 THERE IS AN ATMOSPHERE OF EMOTIONAL, PHYSICAL, AND FINANCIAL STRESS!
COLLEGE UNDERGRADUATE…AGE 19 -22 YEARS OLD
COLLEGE POST – GRADUATE…AGE 23 – 25 YEARS OLD
* As students leave high school unprepared for success at the college level, they have a hard time dealing with the college curriculum; another STRESS GENERATOR!
* The high cost of college education forces students, and/or their families, into enormous debt situations; another STRESS GENERATOR!
* Robust and comprehensive college curriculums are watered down to keep students in college (i.e., empty seats do not create cash flow). As a result of the curriculum adjustments graduates are not prepared for success in the business world; another STRESS GENERATOR!
* The high cost of college filters out potential professionals from the Workforce based on economic status; another STRESS GENERATOR!
PROFESSIONAL CAREER…AGE 26 – 65 YEARS OLD
VOCATIONAL CAREER…AGE 19 – 65 YEARS OLD
* Lack of the knowledge required to succed in a career forces workers to change careers (i.e., Professional to Vocational, Vocational to General Business, or return to school for additional education; another STRESS GENERATOR!
* We have disease care, not health care! The high cost of health care insurance and prescription medications continues to be a STRESS GENERATOR!
* The goal of insurance companies is to pay as little as possible for claims, and to charge as much as possible for health care plans; creating MORE STRESS!
RETIREMENT…AGE 66 -TOMB
* Even as a retired member of the Workforce the STRESS created by the cost of health care insurance and prescription medications is still present.
* Some retired workers have to choose between food and medicine; MORE STRESS!
It appears that the government doesn’t care about the education and health of its most important resource, the people that make up the Workforce! If the members of Congress treated their families the same way they treat America’s most important resource, they would be in family court facing charges of neglect and abuse! But wait! We filled the seats of Congress with our votes! Please make sure you know who, and what, you are voting for before you vote; THEN VOTE!
SUMMARY
* In order to compete in a global economy, fueled by Super Technology, a country needs a SUPERBLY EDUCATED and HEALTHY Workforce.
* America’s Workforce is POORLY EDUCATED and OVER-STRESSED.
* From page 3 of my second book…The Future For STEM IS Grim…we appear to be in the second decade of a Super Technology phase.
CONCLUSION
If the status quo is not drastically changed, America will not be a serious participant in a global economy fueled by Super Technology!
Author’s Note…Several paradigm shifts needed to fix the problem are presented in my two books…Remaking America Is Up To You and The Future For STEM Is Grim.