Apprenticeship seems promising to me. It’s died out in most of the world, but there’s still formal apprenticeship programs in Germany that seem to work pretty well.
Also, it’s a surprisingly common position among very successful people I know that young people would benefit from 2 years of national service after high school. It wouldn’t have to be military service — it could be environmental conservation, poverty relief, Peace Corps type activities, etc.
We actually have reasonable control groups for this both in countries with mandatory national service and the Mormon Church, whom the majority of their members go on a 2-year mission. I haven’t looked at hard numbers or anything, but my sense is that both countries with national service and Mormons tend to be more successful than similar cohorts that don’t undergo such experiences.
Apprenticeship seems promising to me. It’s died out in most of the world, but there’s still formal apprenticeship programs in Germany that seem to work pretty well.
Also, it’s a surprisingly common position among very successful people I know that young people would benefit from 2 years of national service after high school. It wouldn’t have to be military service — it could be environmental conservation, poverty relief, Peace Corps type activities, etc.
We actually have reasonable control groups for this both in countries with mandatory national service and the Mormon Church, whom the majority of their members go on a 2-year mission. I haven’t looked at hard numbers or anything, but my sense is that both countries with national service and Mormons tend to be more successful than similar cohorts that don’t undergo such experiences.