Free-thinker proposes middle schools should abandon academics, teaching students trades full-time: 'They don’t wanna sit in the classroom, and I don’t think they should.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Aug 27, 2026 5:15 PM EDT

That's certainly a unique idea!

Remember 10 years ago when everyone and their mother was telling young people to get degrees in computer science and learn to code? These days, that advice is incredibly outdated, but there was a time when everyone thought that was the only way to get financial security. These days, those same people are telling everyone to go to trade school instead of getting a traditional four-year degree. The guy who wrote this post is probably one of those people, and I question his judgment regarding pedagogy.

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  • 01
    Teenage boy building wooden birdhouse in carpentry workshop
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A middle school boy participating in shop class, training for the trades rather than academic pursuits. 

    Scene is illustrative and does not depict actual individuals or events.

  • 02

    Middle School should only focus on Trades.

    Having worked in informal education spaces for almost 2 decades I've come to the conclusion that from sixth grade to eighth grade students should focus on trades. So much of schooling is repetition. A lot of basic courses you take in MS repeat in high school and even in college.
    via u/pneuprismatic
  • 03
    People sitting in lecture hall
    via Dom Fou

    A college lecture, building upon knowledge originally acquired in middle and high school.

    Photo is a representation of scenes.

  • 04

    Are middle schoolers coordinated enough to operate heavy machinery? I would argue that they're not.

    The amount of physical energy middle schoolers have in conjunction with their mental focus can be best utilized by physically engaging them in hands-on trades and tasks.
    via u/pneuprismatic
  • 05

    That sounds pretty idyllic! Too bad it will never happen, because it would make literacy even worse than it already is.

    If I was to design middle school, every course would be a trade. You could integrate with other course knowledge and supplemental things to tie it to traditional curricula but for the most part it would consist of everything from music, dance, theater, sculpting, filmmaking to cooking, gardening, carpentry,
    via u/pneuprismatic
  • 06

    Do you think kids don't get enough physical engagement in school? Are mandatory physical education classes not enough?

    plumbing, basic electrical, auto mechanics, home economics etc- you get the idea. They don't wanna sit in the classroom and I don't think they should. They should be actively and physically engaged in something that has real concrete consequences, goals, and outcomes!
    via u/pneuprismatic
  • 07
    Ok_Purpose7401 Learning and studying is a skill. Even if the information that you learn in middle school is factually useless, the goal should be to develop good study habits so that you aren't screwed when you actually need to learn important stuff. Yes, learning trades is hard, but it's a different type of learning than more didactic/academic stuff. Cutting off that opportunity at the root is an awful idea.
    via u/Ok_Purpose7401
  • 08
    pneuprismatic OP No, no, but it would also do that! You still would have to study!
    via u/pneuprismatic
  • 09
    SnooCheesecakes2723 Our elementary school tied the math and science curriculum to a different topic each six weeks. One period it was doing a play and the kids learned to build sets and go lighting and make costumes and learned about the time period of the musical they were putting on. Something like that? That was a K-5 school but it was one of the top rated schools is a district known for good schools. The kids did not suffer in standardized testing either.
    via u/SnooCheesecakes2723
  • 10

    Everyone is talking about trades right now, but I guarantee by the time that today's middle schoolers graduate from college, there will be some other industry that everyone and their mother is peddling as a "safe bet" that won't be replaced by AI.

    10luoz Even trades people need doctors, lawyers, actors etc. School is not meant to chase whatever hot job market there is.
    via u/10luoz
  • 11
    NeoMississippiensis Very small percentage of people go on to be doctors, lawyers, engineers relative to the amount of people who graduate high school barely literate. People would overall be better suited with learning or becoming trade bound in middle school Imao
    via u/NeoMississippiensis
  • 12
    Jordan_1424 Great so these kids would go 3+ years without advancing their core subjects. That won't have adverse effects on their academic success later on.
    via u/Jordan_1424
  • 13

    This sounds like one of those unschooling parents who thinks that their kid helping with recipes is tantamount to doing math in a classroom five days a week for twelve years.

    pneuprismatic OP I guess the challenge to the educator/system would be having to incorporate those more creatively.
    via u/pneuprismatic
  • 14
    Mindless-Damage-5399 Nah, I had zero interest in that stuff, and the science and math prepared me for more advanced math and science in high school.
    via u/Mindless-Damage-5399
  • 15

    You learn a lot more advanced stuff as you move through high school and college.

    Lumpy_Secretary_6128 Lmao yeah im not sure where OP got this idea that its just memorize and repeat after you turn 12. It certainly was not for me.
    via u/Lumpy_Secretary_6128
  • 16

    Schools used to be a lot more disciplined than they are now back in the day.

    853fisher They don't wanna sit in the classroom Kids don't wanna do lots of things that are good for them.
    via u/853fisher
  • 17
    gleaming-the-cubicle The children yearn for the mines
    via u/gleaming-the-cubicle
  • 18
    Tractor moving down narrow road in minefield
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    Mines, which the children yearn for. 

    Still frame for contextual reference only.

  • 19

    This guy is using some common sense!

    Joshi1381 my HS had vocational programs like welding, auto body etc. this makes way more sense compared to middle school. Make it an elective, but everyone needs the foundations in middle school especially now
    via u/Joshi1381
  • 20

    Do you think it would work, or do you think a lot of kids would forget information in the 2-3 years that they aren't as academically engaged?

    LuckyPlaze That would work if kids actually learned what they needed through 6th grade.
    via u/LuckyPlaze
  • 21

    Do you think the German system of education is preferable to the American system?

    DeathbyHappy Or you know, adopt the German system that offers different education tracks around 10-12 years old with options to switch tracks if a kid ends up deciding to go a different route part of the way through
    via u/DeathbyHappy

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Tags

school working in trades learn tradesman middle school trade work learning teachers teacher educational trade education blue collar
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