I have to agree Kriston. All I wanted to do was be a wife and mother but of course that didn't mean I was going to sit around waiting for some man to come sweep me off my feet and take care of me. LOL! I wound up with 2 college degrees and a good job. I still work part time and I am glad that I can do that because then I get to spend the rest of the time with my kids.
I too want my kids to know what options are out there. I don't think I fully understood all that there was to do out in the world when I was 18. I think I would have like to have been an archaeologist but that didn't seem a viable option at the time though I'm not sure why. I want to make sure that my kids do know what options are out there and I want them to travel and really know what they could do with their lives. But my ultimate goal is for them to find something that makes them happy. And I do think that involves getting a college degree and having lots of options open to them so they can get good jobs.
And Ren it didn't offend me when you said "The second group produced a lot of misfits that do not have direction, say they are not happy and do not have jobs they think of as permanent" but I am a child of the 1970's and I don't consider myself a misfit without direction and I am happy and have been at the same job since graduating college 16 years ago. And the same for the people I know and graduated from school with. So I'm not sure what group you are talking about. ?? Or maybe I misread?