With Modern Salon Learning headquartered in the Chicago area, last week’s tragedy at Northern Illinois University (NIU) hit close to home. I was reading comments on an Internet forum for young people reacting to the massacre, and one student wrote, “This makes me want to take any future
classes online.” That comment stopped me in my tracks.
Online cosmetology education is
our whole point here and I know that the growing popularity of
online courses is due to a variety of factors, but I certainly hope that fear will not be one of them.
It brings to mind the post 9/11 mantra that if we all stay home, “the terrorists win.” One thing’s for sure: if everyone stays home, the beauty industry loses. You may be able to go online to shop and order goods, learn in virtual classrooms, converse in chat rooms, play games, browse through a library’s card catalogue and book your trip’s entire itinerary. But it’s pretty impossible to get a
professional hair service without doing it in person. The last thing we want people to do is stay in their homes and figure out how to do their hair themselves. Not only would that end stylists’ careers, but it would make for a hideous country!
So take
online courses for all the good reasons—convenience, affordability, fun—but let’s try not to get scared to leave our homes. As a nation we must address the reasons behind the dangers that develop in our society. That takes courage, not cowering in fear.