I never had shop classes and nobody would let me near a woodworking shop, until I was an adult for liability reasons. That could have been a 4 year head start.
The scariest part to me is that these kids who grow up without shop class eventually buy a home end up acquiring power tools and have no training in their use or shop safety. These are fundamental life skills. One of my Doctors was telling me about the tables saw he just purchased. They don't teach you about that sort of stuff in med school.
In the area I live now most of the Highschools still have shop programs. Some of then are quite good and it is amazing to see some of the work these kids do.
Feel free to quote me and if there is anything I can provide for an email let me know.
Michael Schwartz - Waitsfield VT
Shopbot prs standard 48x96. Aspire. SB Link.