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In Detroit, they aim for the stars...

post #1 of 28
2/25/10 at 11:20am
Thread Starter 
...and roll back those prices.

I know this is a sign of the times. I understand that. But holy shit...this is just a depressing turn of affairs.

Detroit High Schools teaching students how to work at Walmart
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post #2 of 28
2/25/10 at 11:32am
50% unemployment? really?
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post #3 of 28
2/25/10 at 11:41am
I'm surprised the unemployment isn't higher. Look at the place...

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post #4 of 28
2/25/10 at 12:51pm
Quote:
Donna Stern, a representative of the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration & Immigrant Rights And Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) is outraged. “They’re going to train students to be subservient workers. This is not why parents send them to school
Now that's one helluva group name. I love how they use the BAMN acronym at the end. And is the class mandatory? If not, I don't see how she can say it's a problem. I love Detroit, it's the city that keeps on giving. Ironically yesterday they got some good news and their airport was named one of the best in the country. But I guess when so many people are using it to flee it has to be a nice place.
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post #5 of 28
2/25/10 at 2:15pm
I didn't know you had to take a class to learn how to say "Welcome to Wallmart! I love you!"
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post #6 of 28
2/25/10 at 2:18pm
Screw Nostradamus, Mike Judge seems to be a better prophet.
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post #7 of 28
2/25/10 at 2:32pm
I wonder how much of a kickback the schoolboard got to approve of this?

WalMart gets to save a few bucks not training these kids at work: they let the parents' taxes take care of that...beautiful!
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post #8 of 28
2/25/10 at 2:41pm
I have to say, I was very impressed with Detroit's airport some five-odd years ago.
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post #9 of 28
2/25/10 at 2:50pm
High school kids have been taking vocational classes like this for decades. It's just getting press because it's Wal-Mart.
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post #10 of 28
2/25/10 at 2:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bendrix View Post
I have to say, I was very impressed with Detroit's airport some five-odd years ago.
Did they have plenty of ice cold Nuka-Cola?
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post #11 of 28
2/25/10 at 2:54pm
By the way, what kind of academic training is required to work at Wal-Mart? I'm not trying to be cute about it. I'm genuinely curious what you would spend an entire semester teaching for people who are going to likely be stocking shelves or running registers.
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post #12 of 28
2/25/10 at 2:56pm
As someone who worked as a cashier manager for Wal-Mart while in college, some might need two or three semesters.

Also, some people get to drive the fork lift, and that's where the money starts rolling in.
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post #13 of 28
2/25/10 at 2:59pm
A lot of people don't like to talk about it, but there are plenty of kids who simply have no interest in going to college. I'd rather see high schools give those kids some real-world prep than insisting on preparing them for something they don't want to pursue. I just wish that experience wasn't coming at such a soul-sucking place as Wal-Mart.
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post #14 of 28
2/25/10 at 3:18pm
Yeah, but I dare someone to tell me of any other city where there's vocational classes in fucking RETAIL SKILLS. One of the case studies I had to research when i was majoring in Adolescent Ed was for a school system in Mississippi and even as poor as that state is, high schoolers will at least learn business or a low grade tech/engineering trade. A place like McDonalds or Target might hold a job fair at a high school, but the fine art of cereal stacking never needs to be a class anywhere, especially not sponsored by Wal-Mart.

I'm really interested in finding out the answer to that wage question at the bottom of that article. $4.25/hr is too close to slave labor for comfort.
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post #15 of 28
2/25/10 at 3:23pm
There's some basic workplace and interaction skills that can be learned, as well as how to deal with a boss or manager. And maybe getting paid for it gets the message through better than sitting in a classroom.

Now, they shouldn't be getting taken advantage of, as it looks like Wal-Mart is doing by paying them such a low rate, but like I said, all through high school we had students who went to class in the morning then spent the rest of the school day working at a local business not doing a whole lot more than these kids are doing at Wal-Mart. It's nothing new.
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post #16 of 28
2/25/10 at 3:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by billylove View Post
Did they have plenty of ice cold Nuka-Cola?
I'm a Quantum man myself. You can blow up stuff with it.
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post #17 of 28
2/25/10 at 3:30pm
All I'm envisioning is being jacked for my wallet by some kid wielding a flaming sword and a sledgehammer wearing a jumpsuit, and I'm not sure whether I'd be angry or not.
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post #18 of 28
2/25/10 at 3:31pm
The $4.25/hr thing isn't exactly shocking or unprecedented, really. I think that's the Federal Minimum Wage for minors in the first 90 days of employment, and anybody can take advantage of it as long as their state doesn't say it's not kosher. I agree it's a terrible wage, especially in the context of what else is happening throughout Detroit; I'm simply saying it's not unexpected.
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post #19 of 28
2/25/10 at 3:33pm
Im picturing a horde of walmart clad Garys myself.
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post #20 of 28
2/25/10 at 3:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dickson View Post
There's some basic workplace and interaction skills that can be learned, as well as how to deal with a boss or manager.
That's the kind of thing I find amazing--that those things would need to be taught in a controlled environment rather than learned on the job (or just through common sense). I get this really sad picture of a CPR dummy with a moustache that the class has to interact with as their manager. "Okay, Tommy, your manager tells you he's noticed you've been spending a lot of time talking with your co-workers when you should be working. Show me how you handle that without hitting him this time."
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post #21 of 28
2/25/10 at 4:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dickson View Post
A lot of people don't like to talk about it, but there are plenty of kids who simply have no interest in going to college. I'd rather see high schools give those kids some real-world prep than insisting on preparing them for something they don't want to pursue. I just wish that experience wasn't coming at such a soul-sucking place as Wal-Mart.
True, but do you really need to learn these skills? it not like it auto shop, metal working, or even Home ED. High schools should be teaching these kids trade skills, and not minim wage jobs are the way to go.
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post #22 of 28
2/27/10 at 7:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Hill View Post
True, but do you really need to learn these skills? it not like it auto shop, metal working, or even Home ED. High schools should be teaching these kids trade skills, and not minim wage jobs are the way to go.
Well, that and... all of the other vocational/tech courses in high schools are based on general application of skills. You go to auto shop not Ford Fixit Academy.

Like Dickson said, these "kinds" of classes have been around for a while... but I've never heard of them being specifically corporate sponsored and centered.
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post #23 of 28
2/27/10 at 2:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jared Melton View Post
Well, that and... all of the other vocational/tech courses in high schools are based on general application of skills. You go to auto shop not Ford Fixit Academy.

Like Dickson said, these "kinds" of classes have been around for a while... but I've never heard of them being specifically corporate sponsored and centered.
I don't mind the corporate sponsored and centered as one of my grandfathers got his Engineering Degree From Ford, or was it GM.
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post #24 of 28
2/27/10 at 8:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Hill View Post
I don't mind the corporate sponsored and centered as one of my grandfathers got his Engineering Degree From Ford, or was it GM.
Yeah but not his high school diploma...
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post #25 of 28
2/27/10 at 9:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cigam Retah View Post

Also, some people get to drive the fork lift, and that's where the money starts rolling in.
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post #26 of 28
2/28/10 at 3:48am
This is not "vocational training" in the traditional sense. When I was in school we had things like CAD, welding, auto body, construction trades and even farming/livestock instruction.

If you take a step back and look that we've gone from real world skills like those to our vocational training being corporate sponsored, slave wage jobs jockeying cash registers, stocking shelves and unloading trucks it's actually quite depressing.
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post #27 of 28
2/28/10 at 5:49pm
Present Wal-Mart employee here just wanting to add that there are probably plenty of illegal job opportunities in the Detroit area with much better pay... And better benefits.
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post #28 of 28
2/28/10 at 6:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Justin Clark View Post
Yeah, but I dare someone to tell me of any other city where there's vocational classes in fucking RETAIL SKILLS.
This. There's no discernable skill that could be taught in this class that one couldn't learn just in every day life.
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