Your lack of education would send umpteen warning signals to any HR department that you pose multiple potential risks.

BTW, a diploma does not signify knowledge, but commitment. The game is not about what you learn but that you can learn.

Also, to make $10 an hour, you have to work at less than $10 an hour to prove that you are worth more. The latest unemployment figure is 5.1%. That means 1 in 20 people are actively seeking employment. Nailing down a good-paying job involves proving your qualifications.

Ardiril, thanks for the insight.

BTW, a diploma does not signify knowledge, but commitment.

That I know. I'm not so committed to this goal that it'd be worth it to me to go for a degree. Maybe my question could have been whittled down to something like, "Are there decent-paying entry level jobs working with kids that don't require a college degree?"

I feel like I'm coming across as being, I don't know, anti-education or something. That's not the case.

btw, having clicked through your profile: thanks for the Heart videos!

Go to your local school board's website if you want to volunteer in schools. If you have some athletic ability or knowledge of a certain sport, you might want to volunteer to coach for the YMCA. You may be able to score a position with the YMCA in after school camps, summer camps. Also, it doesn't pay, but working as a paraprofessional in the school system might be an idea if you have a GED. You have to take classes/orientation to be a paraprofessional. I'm thinking you would be very poor working as a para. In my county they make under 10 dollars an hour, the benefits and hours are desirable.

Lack of a college degree is not your biggest problem, but being a high school dropout. Do you at least have a GED? I know more than a few parents who would automatically associate a male dropout with being on a certain list (that I won't name to keep it from prying google searches).

[you're welcome]

I do indeed have a GED.

LoriFLA, thanks for the paraprofessional pointer. I'll look into that. And I'm heading to the YMCA in a few minutes here to work out; maybe I'll ask the friendly folks at the counter some questions about volunteering.

Honestly, the more I think about it this morning the more it sounds like the volunteer thing would be the way to go, huh? I could keep my reasonably-paying day job and help kids. I'm sure that the negatives I posed in my original post would still apply, though. Hm.

I have a fairly decent job, paying 50K a year by now. . not as much as some, but more than a lot.

I have a degree, although that was not a factor in my hiring. I have an English degree and I am in the health, safety, and environmental field. Would have gotten my first job at my present employer without it.

I got on with my school district as a temp, and finally gained an entry level job in maintenance. It seemed like it took an eternity (it did take decades) for promotions and raises to come, but they did.

So yesterday, I represented the school district, coordinating key issues between my employer, the Clinton campaign, the Secret Service, the Fire Marshal, and the public. It is hard to actually describe how my day was but it was busy. Over the last two days, I solved a lot of problems via my knowledge of the particular building this event took place in, plus just knowing the "ropes."

Oh, and a lot of other people got the glory and my name will not be mentioned much in the debriefs of this event, but I know what I did.

I got here by getting on, entry level, with a good, humane employer, and doing fairly well with each task I was given, and building a track record with this employer, knowing the culture, building relationships where I could, etc.

No short cuts. But you can do it. I would rather hire a person for their innate qualities than for their resume. I have seen a lot of great resumes get to my organization and just TANK, on the job. Working with kids is the same way. One path might be to get a job as an aide, then get a foothold, and work for a teaching degree. You need to get SOMEWHERE and build a track record and a level of trust.

Be patient, see your opportunities when they come, and step up to the plate.

It took me awhile but I finally figured out the weakness you must address. Yay for the GED!

Show that you can be a positive role-model for kids, and then build an exemplary record of leading kids into improving themselves. Volunteer work will probably be your best and most immediate opportunity, and then parlay that into a career with a private (ie, commercial) enterprise.

Do you have a local Rock For Kids affiliate? If not, consider starting one. This is a fast-growing charity that needs adult volunteers, and successful local programs can become high-profile set pieces for their organizers.

Doh! I just remembered another pathway that few consider. Fundraising. Good fundraisers can pretty much write their own tickets in establishing the role they really want to play in a charity.

... and if you go the Rock For Kids route, a cheap source for band instruments is pawn shops, particularly those around military bases.

Wow, good call, Ardiril, that couldn't be more up my alley. It looks like Rock for Kids is only in Chicago. Maybe I'll contact them about setting up a Houston branch. One neat thing that immediately jumps to mind: the mother of one of my very close friends is an accountant specializing in setting up tax situations and bookkeeping for non-profits; she's recognized as being literally the best in her field here. So that would be help with a really big hurdle.

In the meantime, I'm poking around Big Brothers Big Sisters' local website and I'll chat up some folks at the Y. Thanks for all the suggestions so far; keep 'em coming! Let's forget the "employment" thrust of my original question and focus on the "volunteer" aspect.

I agree that volunteering will help build up your credibility, and will also inform you about potential career directions that may lead from where you are. The camp suggestion is a good one. Be prepared to go through a background check for most employers these days. Educate yourself on appropriate behavior - and I mean specifics about where/how you can (or can't) touch kids, never allowing yourself to be alone with one kid out of sight of other people, etc.

Big Brothers, Big Sisters comes to mind. The local chapter has an office next door to a place I volunteer - they say they always have Sisters coming out of their ears, but Brothers are harder to come by.

It might help you to be specific about what you want to do with kids - saying "I just love to be around them" definitely is going to send up a red flag with a recruiter or HR person. Do you want to help them with schoolwork? Help build their self-confidence? Coach them in sports skills and teamwork? Guide them in exploring the arts, the outdoors, computers? Help them develop and achieve goals? Provide recreational experiences? Try to narrow down the change you want to make in kids.

Echoing BB/BS, and volunteering. There are many literacy/tutoring programs that can always use help, too. If you had a GED, and depending on the state you're in, you might be able to work in the child mental health field as a paraprofessional (an NC term), but you'd still need a good amount of experience and training in order to make the most out of it.

I will also echo the rewarding nature of the work; I work with emotionally troubled kids, a very misunderstood group. It's blood sweat and tears, but it's so incredibly rewarding to see years of work on one child pay off. And it certainly helped prepare me to be a Godfather to a kid out of the system because of all that effort. So, yeah, it's so worth it, and worth the extra time and training to begin the work. There's always kids out there in need of a role model, and to borrow from UNCF, "where there's a will there's a way." Good luck!

Do you attend a church? If so, there are probably several opportunities to volunteer, some of which can be paid positions. It will probably mean giving up your Sundays, but if you enjoy it, you can still help with youth and keep any "day job" you have. Once you get some experience volunteering you may be able to land a better gig.