NCJ Number
80618
Date Published
Unknown
Length
21 pages
Annotation
The West German educational system is critiqued and analyzed with respect to the preparation and opportunities for satisfactory career candidacy, especially in the field of law enforcement.
Abstract
Public opinion is skeptical about the quality of today's education, levels of competence are falling, and diplomas and certificates no longer have the same value they did for former generations. The high school system of electives fails to prepare young people for future careers. Aimlessness in the course of secondary education posits anonymous individuals in mass universities because course selections in high school were made to obtain easy grades rather than to satisfy an interest or undergo personal growth. A spirit of resignation characterizes those coming from secondary schools in search of mere jobs, not career opportunities. School certificates do not guarantee a person's accomplishments or abilities, even though school is experienced as highly stressful. These symptoms are the effects of a highly technologized, mechanized, materially oriented civilization upon the personalities of its overstimulated young. Because of the low quality of alternative secondary school preparation, police recruitment must raise its sights and compete for the best educated candidates. The recommended preparatory schooling for a law enforcement career is completion of the full academic high school program. Tabular data offer comparisons of various courses of secondary education and the career opportunities to which they lead.