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| Rivera's chosen trade is plumbing, and he sees no reason why he shouldn't get started in it right away. |
By JOSHUA RIVERA
with files from BHSB Writers
Joshua Rivera has some very strong views on when America’s youth should be allowed to leave public high school.
Joshua is convinced that 16 should be the school leaving age for students who have a profession to enter – and he points to England as an example of how such a system can work.
“In England you can start working when you are 16 and stop going to school,” Joshua says. “I prefer to be working and learning a job at the same time.”
He notes that leavers have to start an apprenticeship or traineeship in a trade or profession that offers on-the-job training – and says that would be just fine with him.Joshua has already decided that plumbing will be his trade.
He’s been doing it since he was 12 with his father. He now works with his father’s cousin, whom he calls his “uncle”.
No point
“There is no point in going to school past 16 years old,” says Joshua. “I don't want an office job.”
Joshua insists that once a student has learned to read and write, additional literary skills are overkill for those entering the trades.
“To be a plumber, you don't need to write a lot,” Joshua says. “You just need to be able to list out the materials you need for the job.”
Joshua says he feels as though he is spinning his wheels by remaining in high school until he is 18 years old.
“Being in school past 16 is just wasting time,” he says. “Yes, you need math to be a plumber. Yes, you need a lawyer just in case you miss something.
“But I think I can be successful even if I leave school without a high school diploma.”
Joshua says he knows his job, so we asked him what he would do in the following situation:
It’s winter, and you’ve got no heat in the master bedroom. You call Joshua and his uncle, and an hour later the pair are on your doorstep. What comes next?
Joshua outlines his routine: “You check the radiator to see that everything is working,” he says. “Maybe something stuck; maybe it’s too old.”
Should the radiator be fine, Joshua says he would next “turn off the water and turn off the heating, and check the (boiler) meter.”
If all that is in working order, then the fault may be directly connected to the boiler.
“If all is working, then check the pipeline to the boiler for leaks or to see if there are blockages,” Joshua says. Only then does the plumber turn to the boiler itself.
“You check the boiler to see if it is leaking oil,” Joshua says. “You check the pilot light.”
If a fault is found with the boiler itself, then the remedy involves words that no homeowner wants to hear.
“Maybe you need a new boiler,” Joshua says. “It could cost hundreds of dollars. Nobody wants to hear that.”
But hear it they must if the boiler has come to the end of its life.
Joshua says the amount in salary a plumber receives “all depends on how long you have been working” for a particular employer.
What’s important to Joshua is that “you are working and you are maintaining yourself.”
Joshua Rivera aspires to be a mechanical engineer and, at 16, would leave school immediately if he could. He is most proud of being Peruvian, but says the place he’d most like to visit is California.
Joshua insists that once a student has learned to read and write, additional literary skills are overkill for those entering the trades.
“To be a plumber, you don't need to write a lot,” Joshua says. “You just need to be able to list out the materials you need for the job.”
Joshua says he feels as though he is spinning his wheels by remaining in high school until he is 18 years old.
“Being in school past 16 is just wasting time,” he says. “Yes, you need math to be a plumber. Yes, you need a lawyer just in case you miss something.
“But I think I can be successful even if I leave school without a high school diploma.”
Joshua says he knows his job, so we asked him what he would do in the following situation:
It’s winter, and you’ve got no heat in the master bedroom. You call Joshua and his uncle, and an hour later the pair are on your doorstep. What comes next?
Joshua outlines his routine: “You check the radiator to see that everything is working,” he says. “Maybe something stuck; maybe it’s too old.”
Should the radiator be fine, Joshua says he would next “turn off the water and turn off the heating, and check the (boiler) meter.”
If all that is in working order, then the fault may be directly connected to the boiler.
“If all is working, then check the pipeline to the boiler for leaks or to see if there are blockages,” Joshua says. Only then does the plumber turn to the boiler itself.
“You check the boiler to see if it is leaking oil,” Joshua says. “You check the pilot light.”
Hundreds of dollars
If a fault is found with the boiler itself, then the remedy involves words that no homeowner wants to hear.
“Maybe you need a new boiler,” Joshua says. “It could cost hundreds of dollars. Nobody wants to hear that.”
But hear it they must if the boiler has come to the end of its life.
Joshua says the amount in salary a plumber receives “all depends on how long you have been working” for a particular employer.
What’s important to Joshua is that “you are working and you are maintaining yourself.”
Joshua Rivera aspires to be a mechanical engineer and, at 16, would leave school immediately if he could. He is most proud of being Peruvian, but says the place he’d most like to visit is California.
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