We all know that our children are the future, and we're all looking for ways to help them get there. That's why I'm so excited about this episode!

Part 1 of this series started with a discussion about the quality of education in America. If you haven't listened to it yet, check it out!

Here, we delve deeper into how parents and the system mess with the creativity of young people. And what we can do about it.

Ted On Helping Young Adults Realize They Could Create Their Own Paths

We often encourage children to buckle down, get good grades, and get into the right colleges.

In Ted's words, "on the scale of: is college an amazing education experience were paying that tuition is much better than what you could otherwise do? Versus, is college a glorified four years, incredibly expensive version of summer camp? I'm in the category of summer camp."—Ted Dintersmith.

It's difficult for young kids to see the obsession with getting college education degrees, even though many college graduates get dealt a bad hand in the job market despite their outstanding resumes.

Ted on What Students Should Learn vs. What They Are Learning

Ted believes students should be allowed to voice their opinions on what they would love to learn because that is required in the real world.

Nobody gives a notebook to an employee to read and answer multiple-choice questions like they're being taught in schools. Instead, these jobs look for people with practical reasoning and who have something valuable to offer.

If College and Test Prep Are Not the Answer, Then What Is?

Ted emphasized that if native digitals can master native digital skills and team up with other native digitals that are gravitating towards traditional skills like woodwork, carpentry, etc., and are encouraged to recognize that they can create their career path, these will lead to happier and more purpose-filled lives.

Ultimately, these paths could pay more than a college graduate AND be better equipped than a 4-year degree.

We should start looking at things that transform lives. It's not surprising that the people who go on to do amazing things in their careers are the ones that have the money to dive into ambiguity at the age of twelve or thirteen and have gone ahead to be prosperous and financially stable adults.

"We know what matters; we sit around and don't do anything about it… We keep erasing from them the skill set and mindset they need, pushing them to excel in irrelevant things, and nobody views this as a crisis. They should."—Ted Dintersmith.

Let's give room for young adults to dive in and figure things out by creating their own life's journey without minding what the bureaucratic system says.

About Ted:

"I'm on a mission to help catalyze and accelerate progress in our schools. We need to equip our children with skillsets and mindsets essential in a world of innovation. I can't overstate how fast machine intelligence accelerates (and this short video makes the point). No school can be complacent. My travels have convinced me that our best path forward is to let our teachers do what they entered the profession — engage and inspire our kids — and draw on their insights into how best to transform our schools." ~ Ted Dintersmith.

Ted has spent his adult life in the worlds of innovation and education. He's written books and produced films. His work to transform learning experiences is at WhatSchoolCouldBe.org.

Check out his full bio on Part 1.

Connect with Ted:

LinkedIn profile: Ted Dintersmith

Official website: Ted Dintersmith

Twitter: Ted Dintersmith

F.B.: Ted Dintersmith