Well at least "Johnny Raincloud" isn't chanting old fuddy duddy logic that there is nothing to see here.

 

8 to 12 so let's average it at 10. At 10 years old I would argue the typical american child has at least 5 years experience on the Internet in some capacity and 3 in 10 aspire to be a famous YouTuber.

 

But okay guys, I am hearing I am off base from each of you, then what should our children today be considering for meaningful employment in the near future?

 

I don't think 10 year old should be worried about "meaningful future employment" at all. They should be worried about being kids.

Chinese children already know they have a better chance of being a professional athlete than a Vlogger/YouTuber because they are ahead of us. :idunno:

 

Kids can only want to emulate what they see in front of them. America places huge value in online influencers these days; it hasn't launched a human being into space in nearly a decade.

 

Regardless, my methodology issue stands. This is a bad poll. I didn't know how the poll was conducted in post No. 9. If I had, it would have completely changed my opinion. All this tells us is that American kids want to be a Vlogger more than they want to be astronauts. And of course they do, because they don't even know we have them anymore.

Children’s top career aspirations in the US:

 

1. Vlogger/YouTuber - 29%

2. Teacher - 26%

3. Professional athlete - 23%

4. Musician - 19%

5. Astronaut - 11%

 

 

Here's a big problem I'm having as we continue to talk about this: were these kids given any other options? That Ars Technica article I posted made it sound like the question was "What do you want to be when you grow up?", then the kids were given these five things and told they could pick up to three. Since the Harris Poll is really hiding the ball, I can't verify for sure that's how it went. If so, this is a completely meaningless survey.

 

It doesn't include any number of answers that kids love to give to this question including "doctor", which I'd bet has been a massively popular answer for decades.

 

If how I'm reading this isn't right, then they're not kids' "top" choices, they're simply the most popular responses from among the five options.

 

It's a bad poll and doesn't actually reflect anything about the way kids think in the United States apart from their opinion of the space program which, to be fair, their parents and grandparents have pretty successfully gutted in the last 20-30 years.

It's a bad poll

 

They did talk to 1,326 people in a country with just over 272 million. :bunny:

For comparison purposes, Scarborough polls (gets a booklet from) over 3,000 people in Cincinnati (2.2 million people) for purposes of market research.

I have nothing to go on but being an 8 year-old 55 years ago. Guys wanted to become policemen, firemen and athletes. Girls wanted to be teachers and mommies.

I have nothing to go on but being an 8 year-old 55 years ago. Guys wanted to become policemen, firemen and athletes. Girls wanted to be teachers and mommies.

 

I wanted to be a fireman, but it's because my dad was one at the time.

I wanted to be a fireman, but it's because my dad was one at the time.

 

I wanted to be a fireman because I watched Emergency! growing up. Also wanted to be an astronaut (and bionic :lol2:) because of the Six Million Dollar Man.

10 year old me absolutely wanted to be a pro athlete, and I believed and pursued that until my early 20’s. I’m pretty sure my backup plan was likely doctor, policeman or fireman. There isn’t a kid in this world that doesn’t want have some position of fame or power when they grow up. Most kids figure out pretty that their dreams at age 10 aren’t going to work out, almost certainly before I figured it out as a young adult. So I ended up as a sales and marketing executive. Most kids will end up being productive at something. It’s ok to dream big and fall short.

Space is a big part of the Chinese popular imagination right now, as the government is conducting space exploration in a way they never have before and on a huge scale.

 

We have no such massive feature in American cultural life right now for children. YouTube is the thing they all share.

 

Kids can only want to emulate what they see in front of them. America places huge value in online influencers these days; it hasn't launched a human being into space in nearly a decade.

 

All this tells us is that American kids want to be a Vlogger more than they want to be astronauts. And of course they do, because they don't even know we have them anymore.

 

I think you are wrong Getslow. America is literally getting ready to blast back into space.

 

The last time "I checked with NASA" we are going back to the Moon, we are going to Mars, and we recently admitted (although we already knew this, thanks Gary McKinnon) we are militarizing space.

 

Additionally numerous private companies are also either going to space or going to be a big part of the effort. Think Bigelow Aerospace (Robert Bigelow) and Blue Origin (Jeff Bezos).

 

Commercial Space Activities – SpacePolicyOnline.com

 

The above link details a lot of the major players in our new space initiatives.

 

But then again, maybe all those American children are too busy paying attention to their favorite YouTubers to notice. :idunno:

I think you are wrong Getslow. America is literally getting ready to blast back into space.

 

The last time "I checked with NASA" we are going back to the Moon, we are going to Mars, and we recently admitted (although we already knew this, thanks Gary McKinnon) we are militarizing space.

 

Additionally numerous private companies are also either going to space or going to be a big part of the effort. Think Bigelow Aerospace (Robert Bigelow) and Blue Origin (Jeff Bezos).

 

Commercial Space Activities – SpacePolicyOnline.com

 

The above link details a lot of the major players in our new space initiatives.

 

But then again, maybe all those American children are too busy paying attention to their favorite YouTubers to notice. :idunno:

 

We are going back to space, which is great. I'd venture the average 10 year old isn't as up to date on the potential of space travel as you are. It's not in the national conscious yet.

Depending on the age of the children, I wouldn't put much stock on what they want to be when they grow up. The vast majority of them won't be that, regardless of what it is.

 

Heck yeah, and when they get to college they'll change it about 2-3 times. :lol2:

Heck yeah, and when they get to college they'll change it about 2-3 times. :lol2:

 

And many will change a couple of times AFTER college.

And many will change colleges a couple of times.

I have nothing to go on but being an 8 year-old 55 years ago. Guys wanted to become policemen, firemen and athletes. Girls wanted to be teachers and mommies.

 

 

I wanted to be a sex symbol . . . and here I am killing it!!