To think some career paths shouldn't be open to school leavers

[ChuffinAda]

Or 21 year old graduates.

I'm thinking careers such as the emergency services, social work, teaching etc where you need good people skills and life experience as well as qualifications

Aibu?

It's very difficult to make blanket generalisions on age: people are all very different, and sometimes youthful insight in some professions could be a good thing. However, I think the op has a point: I don't like hearing about people who go straight to very senior management positions because they've merely studied management, rather than got there with real experience.

Maybe it's another debate, but I think MPs should have at least ten years in a real job, preferably facing the public, before becoming an MP, instead of the bubble of wealthy family/posh school/Oxbridge/Parliament while barely setting foot in the world everyone else lives in (think Cameron and Bliar).

I'm thinking careers such as the emergency services, social work, teaching etc where you need good people skills and life experience as well as qualifications

Back in the e1950s my aunt became a 'nurse cadet', she was 15 and it wasn't unusual.

This time last year I was teaching a 17 year old who was living independently and had spent her life before that in care, she was applying to uni to be a social worker, I think she had more experience of social services / the care system/ leaving care than I will ever have.

Most of the people I teach are heading for careers in health, care or social. work and the vast majority will be excellent.

sassh that's my point, the 17yr old you know will make a better social worker than a 35yr old with a very narrow upbringing/ social group/ lack of exposure to different parenting ideals/ childrens range of development etc, and is far more likely even at 17 to be able to make valid judgements on whether someone is genuinely trying their best in bad circumstances or not. To a degree the average person in the middle is more likely to have more exposure and be more open minded the older they get, but that's what should be considered, not age, and same for many other careers/ roles.

I've heard people 50+ make remarks like needing a food bank etc is bad budgeting because benefits covers it, and a teen explain why that's not the case.

So, now not only do social workers/teachers/paramedics have to be "old enough" but they have had to experience it? Well, all teachers will have sort sort of formal education to qualify. I defy you to find one young adult who has never come across an ill person.

I'm a social worker. Half my case load is individuals with a dementia dx. I don't have dementia, have never cared for a close relative with dementia. How do you justify that? Do we only have oncologists who had cancer themselves? Do we only have child protection SW if that individual was at risk as a child themselves?

I worry about people who think life experience is key for a vocation in medical and social care. I wonder if they are able to manage their boundaries appropriately. I am a physically disabled social worker working with a service user group who often have physical disabilities. My struggles and personal experience doesn't make me an expert on anything except my own life. I can be equally empathic, supportive and helpful to someone with a physical disability as I can to someone with a mental health condition. If I can't, then that's the problem - not my age nor my life experience.

Well, I think it's up to the person interviewing to ensure they are up to the job? And that's what long probationery periods are for.

My friend has just qualified as a social worker. She has just turned 30. She has no experience at all of social work apart from through her university course. I don't doubt she'll be great though!

I for one don't think you need to experience the situation to empathise or do a good job. But I strongly believe that you need the basic skills of being open minded and realising people are all very different, and make mistakes and all the rest. Which for some people comes naturally, for others it needs to come through some form of relative ( although certainly not the same by any needs) experience. Even if you take first time around parenting as a 'job', purely as its common ground we all know the ins and outs of, it comes easier to some than others, mainly I imagine from outside factors rather than some being superior or age alone. Dd wasn't walking at 1, I had no previous experience with kids or close friends with them and was quite a young mum etc but my general life experience and knowledge of another very different interest made my response 'entirely normal and of no concern because of blah blah blah'. Other older than I was new parents get genuinely concerned about that type of thing, not because I have inherently better parenting skills, purely unrelated life experience and a basic 'it'll be fine' attitude. And for some that only comes after seeing other kids at playgroup, getting acquainted with other parents etc.
Obviously a lot of the roles we're discussing do include practical experience as well as theoretical, but I genuinely believe that in some roles there needs to be more emphasis on general practical exposure for those who aren't as open minded naturally, or have never before ventured from their 'bubble'. Nobody's accepting a social worker, or teacher etc onto the training to start if they are judgy, set in their ways and overly opinionated about themselves knowing best, but some people can have something of those qualities in their behaviour, even if their intentions and personality are anything but. Most of us have met the teacher who lacks patience with the fact little boys as a whole struggle to sit still as nicely as the girls do as a whole, and of course that same principle stands in many roles, some with more serious consequences than others

It is entirely possible to be a social worker at the age of 22. If you begin your 3 year degree at 18 you will be 21 by the time you qualify. As a social worker I have worked with a number of 22 year olds who have been fantastic social workers. Being older does not automatically equal life experience and younger social workers often engage better with young people than us stuffy 40-odd year olds.

Not only are YBU.... You are also being bloody ridiculous OP. How would you suggest these young people obtain lifeskills acceptable to you?

To be fair many young people I come across have great common sense and capabilities, this does not always apply to other "mature" types. Would like to think that qualified individuals get judged on their own qualifications, achievements, merits and suitability for a job.

Actually just realised that my ds is a lifeguard and has been so since he was 16. Thats a very responsible job often done by teenagers or early 20s because you need to be very fit to keep up with the training. Who is supposed to do that job, when its an ideal job for students because you are only allowed on poolside for a limited time.

Lifeguards are fine to be very young. No life experience needed for that job.

I'm a student nurse . I'm 29 . On my last placement I worked with a 22 year old student who was absolutely phenomenal . I may have more life experience but the one year access to nursing course she done prior to the degree course prepared her so much more than any of my life experience has . I learned a lot from her and I have no doubt she is going to be an excellent nurse but so am I

Why dont you need life experience.
you need to be able to do crowd control, stay calm in a crisis. Ds has had to deal with stroppy parents who have objected to him telling their pfb off, deal with people who have collapsed on the badmonton court etc