Careers Advice Aged 7???

[Kara1989]

Not sure if this is the right place for this but yesterday I was reading in the paper that the government were thinking of introducing careers advice at aged 7 in school and was wandering what you all think. I'm really split about what I think. I have a very nearly 5 year old and obviously I want her to grow up and acheive anything she wants but then I don't want her to grow up too fast. It scares me slightly that if kids that age start thinking about jobs they might start thinking about other things there too young for. Also worried that Summer is currently convinced she's going to be a horse rider when she grows up, and I don't want the school telling her that's not a proper job or anything! I think careers advice is important, maybe if I'd been more focussed on what I wanted I wouldn't have left it to 20 and 2 kids later to decide what I want to do but 7 seems a tad early!!!

 

[Blah11]

I think it's ridiculous. I wanted to be a ballet dancer at age 7

 

[helen1234]

rosie wanted be a lollipop lady at 7 lol at 10 she wanted to be the woman behind cash dispenser counting the money and pushing out the slot lol

 

[leeanne]

That's far too early. I wanted to be a singer at that age. Amanda changes her mind every year and so does Jayden. Neither are ready to seriously think about careers. Heck, they have conversations about when they move out and how they will know where mommy and daddy live. Definitely too young.

 

[belladonna]

Im 26 and still dont know what I want to do!

I remember the careers adviser we had at school- we had to fill in a questionnaire and then she told us what job would suit us- they gave me being a nurse- I'm petrified of hospitals, faint at the sight of blood and don't like working with people!

I think 7 is way to soon- the kids may then think that the options given to them are things they have to do. I think choosing which subjects to study at 13 is too early anyway.

 

[Panda_Ally]

Ridiculous!! I wanted to b a carrot farmer aged 7!! However something has to be done about the 'when i grow up i want to be famous' mentallity alot of kids these days have!!! I wish we could go back to a time when you needed talent to achieve fame!!

 

[morri]

thats ridiculous. kids shouzld have time to gro up before they take career advise into consideration. Interest change often enough .

 

[Unicus]

i think its totally stupid. My daughter is 7 and she changes her mind daily on what she wants to be when she grows up.

 

[indy and lara]

I teach in a primary school in Scotland and this has been part of the Enterprise Curriculum for a while. It is not career's advice like the kind you get when when you are a teenager. It is more talking about the types of jobs there are in the world and finding out what people do in their jobs. Kids usually find it really interesting.

 

[embojet]

I wanted to be a mermaid

 

[Nic1107]

I wanted to be an astronaut... glad they didn't get my hopes up on that one! Math and science aren't exactly my strong points. I gave up that dream on my own once I found out that astronauts have to use diapers in their space suits.

 

[nightkd]

I wonder how it'll be structured... If they simply discuss kid's interests and give them some information on different jobs they might want to do later on, it'd at least encourage them to think about their choices!

I honestly had/have no clue what I want to do! I still chop and change because tbh I wasn't really sure what was out there apart from office/shop/restaurant work... I wanted to be a Pharmacist for a long while, but I didn't get on with College and when the job I took at a Pharmacy (to be a Pharmacy Technician - you don't have to go to Uni for this) went tits up because my manager hated me, it kinda put me off of that and any kind of shop work...

I think it's an interesting thing to introduce to kids, yes maybe 7 is a wee bit too young, but as long as it's literally just an informative discussion and not someone trying to push kids into making a decision/out of their 'dreams' eg being a movie star/singer etc because they're 'unrealistic' - just giving them more realistic options to consider along with that...well I can't see it doing any harm.

x

 

[MiissMuffet]

omg thats redicululous! far too young!!

 

[Foogirl]

I wanted to be a mermaid

And how's that working out for you?

I teach in a primary school in Scotland and this has been part of the Enterprise Curriculum for a while. It is not career's advice like the kind you get when when you are a teenager. It is more talking about the types of jobs there are in the world and finding out what people do in their jobs. Kids usually find it really interesting.

That sounds ok. I do think it is important (especially for the girls) to understand there are no "gender roles" and they can be what they want to be. In fact, come to that, it's important for the boys to understand that too!

 

[tasha41]

I actually think the idea of educating children about jobs is a good one! Not helping them choose their destiny haha at 7 but when I was 7 I thought all nurses were female and all doctors were male... it'd be good to straighten things like that out lol.

 

[nightkd]

^ Exactly!! I just don't see what harm it could do? It's not like the kids don't have the opportunity to change their minds as they get older... Just might help give them some sort of direction!