Youth neighborhood patrols were common through the 1980s. Major businesses have since developed Scouting Explorer posts to entice young boys and girls to investigate and consider jobs. The Detroit Area Council has job contacts in about 140 different fields. General Motors Corp. alone has 16 Explorer posts in Metro Detroit. Explorer Post 1968 meets every other Thursday at the DaimlerChrysler's Mound Road plant in Warren.
Youngsters pick up electrical, home-wiring and automation skills well before leaving high school.
There are good jobs and good money out here. Shaken by auto plant layoffs and eager to attract information technology businesses to Michigan, state officials have launched several career-development programs. The department in May will kick off a program that brings entertainment celebrities to schools to promote jobs.