S/O UO Thread

KaylaL08 · August 2013

The football talk got me thinking...

DH is a farmer and DS1 has been expressing a huge interest in farming since he was a toddler. I will be legitimately shocked if he does not pursue this career path. Agricultural work is pretty dangerous, and that is always in the back of my mind when DH goes to work.

Would you actively discourage your child from pursuing a dangerous profession? I am thinking along the lines of police, farmers, construction workers, etc. Obviously once they are in their late teens getting ready to pursue a career you can't forbid them from doing something, but would you discourage it?

KaylaL08 · August 2013

JellyBellyStar said:

KaylaL08 said:

The football talk got me thinking...

DH is a farmer and DS1 has been expressing a huge interest in farming since he was a toddler. I will be legitimately shocked if he does not pursue this career path. Agricultural work is pretty dangerous, and that is always in the back of my mind when DH goes to work.

Would you actively discourage your child from pursuing a dangerous profession? I am thinking along the lines of police, farmers, construction workers, etc. Obviously once they are in their late teens getting ready to pursue a career you can't forbid them from doing something, but would you discourage it?

What type of farming does he do?

Row crop (corn, wheat, soybeans) and tobacco (burley, air-cured & dark-fired).

notkateanymore · August 2013

I don't put farming in the same category as police, fire and military...sorry.

Louiej · August 2013

I worked at a major trauma center in my past life, saw some horrific farming accidents. I am going to try not to discourage anything...seems like it makes it more appealing.

bridein08 · August 2013

Nope. DH is an officer, and DS is already obsessed with guns, knives, tasers when he sees them on either his dad, or other officers in public. Whenever he hears sirens or sees a police car, he wants to go say hello.

DS is young, and I have no idea what career path he will want to take, however I would never discourage it, even if it was dangerous.

Though, and this is likely an UO, I WILL discourage artistic career pursuits unless they are already earning substantial money from it or have a "backup" plan if it doesn't work out. MIL highly encouraged her oldest three in music and art. DH is a fantastic musician, but decided against pursuing it as his career. BIL1 OTOH is still in art school, attempting to get his degree (8 years in the making for his bachelors) with a couple years to go and mooching 100% off of his parents- including drug money. He takes hours and hours per day to record music that he posts on youtube and facebook- it is seriously difficult to listen to.

BIL2 Wants to be a pilot, wants to own his own business, wants to be an artist, etc. but can't decide what, so he does nothing. I can see both BILs living with my ILs well into their 30s...

notkateanymore · August 2013

Louiej said:

I worked at a major trauma center in my past life, saw some horrific farming accidents. I am going to try not to discourage anything...seems like it makes it more appealing.

We have a friend who lost her dad in a farming accident. It was horrible. But I see it as an accident, not something like police/fire/military when you're putting yourself in harms way at every second.

joyfullyfound · August 2013

Well, if either my brother or I are anything to go from, the more you discourage them, the more it encourages them. :-<

Minipenguin · August 2013

Police, fire, and military, I will discourage. To be honest, I'm hoping she will get a graduate degree and take a cushy, well-paid office gig somewhere.

KaylaL08 · August 2013

JellyBellyStar said:

What is the danger? I'm around a lot of farming. I've never personally spoken to a farmer about the danger involved so I'm completely unaware.

The danger is in the high power equipment. Combines, tractors, etc. Tractors roll over, combine catch on fire, implements malfunction. Also in my husband's case every fall he is checking dark barns, or basically walking into a barn with a fire in it on the ground with a temp of 120 degrees or more with lots of smoke everywhere. He got trapped in a barn last fall and that was pretty scary.

Farming has made the "most dangerous jobs" lists by a lot of places.

https://money.howstuffworks.com/10-most-dangerous-jobs-in-america.htm

https://www.businessinsider.com/most-dangerous-jobs-in-america-2013-8

https://www.bankrate.com/finance/personal-finance/10-most-dangerous-jobs-us-9.aspx

Also @KateMW I wasn't trying to say farming and police work were comparable, just trying to think of dangerous professions off the top of my head.

caybeh · August 2013

I agree farming can be dangerous. My dad is a beef producer. He fractured his pelvis delousing the herd. Plus, during calving season, he's gotten charged a few times. The older he gets the more mentality of its not worth risking my life if this cow doesn't want to whatever he is trying to do.

That being said, I don't think I will discourage. I'll make sure he understands the risks in whatever dangerous job it is.

Cherryblossoms07 · August 2013

I grew up on a farm and have a military husband.

I would not actively prohibit a dangerous profession because, like a pp said, it would only make it seem more desirable. I would want them to know the dangers of the job before they enter the profession.

I would have had no problem with my kids farming if they would have grown up around it. They have not though, so I would be concerned about their career choice for more than just safety reasons. There is a wealth of knowledge that farm kids learn by growing up on the farm and watching their parents work. Your husband's knowledge and experience will help your son greatly if your son follows in his footsteps. I would be more concerned if my kids chose the military. How I would feel about my kids joining the military would depend a lot on when they want to join and what area they would want to join (ideally I wouldn't want my kids to have a security job).

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