Question: Forrest's mother doesn't want him at a "special school", where he would learn "how to re-tread tires." What does that mean? Would a school for mentally disabled children also be a vocational/trade school?
KeyZOid
16th Oct 2022
Forrest Gump (1994)
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Answer: In the past, (perceived) "dumb" students were more likely to be placed into vocational rather than academic programs because it was assumed they had limited ability and would not "amount to much" in life (make much of themselves). Therefore, they could at least be trained to perform something almost anyone could do with little or no training. Once someone is trained how to re-tread tires, for example, he should be able to repeatedly do the same thing everyday for years and be "productive." A variation of re-treading tires was learning how to make "birdhouses and ashtrays" - non-essential products in society that some people still might want to buy.
KeyZOid
More recently, the trend has been to "mainstream" such students - keep them in classes with their peers.
KeyZOid