Are high schools preparing students for the real world?
As the next semester starts and the joy, or shame, of finals overcomes us all, the question of “When are we ever actually going to use this?” rings through our campus.
The average high school student isn’t taught how to write a check, balance a bank account, or fill out a standard tax form. We are taught everything from how to graph a quadratic equation to the structure of an atom, but some necessary tools for life don’t make the curriculum.
The typical teenager s
pends an average of 8 hours 41 minutes on media devices a day, according to Daily Mail. Throughout those hours teens see pictures pop up on their Tumblrfeed about the problems with our school system. One of the most common being “Me: What are taxes and how do I pay them? School System: Worry not. Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.” It’s clearly time for a change when schools are the face of a joke.
On Dec. 10, 2015 Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act. This act is a step forward in the journey to meaningful education. It rids school systems of unnecessary testing and gives teachers more power over what tests they administer. Now individual states are in charge of their own education systems and it encourages states to create their own functioning systems.The best part is that instead of failing kids because they aren’t strong test takers, teachers are to find other resources to help the student succeed.
Still, there are many issues at hand. High schoolers are spoiled; teachers remind us daily of the next test and the next assignment constantly. What they don’t remind us is that, when it comes to the real world, it’s every man for himself; there’s no helpful calendar or forgiveness when one “forgets” their project at home.
As a staff we ask for not only our peers, but also our school system to realize that we will be independent adults soon, prepared or not, and now that we, as a state, are in charge of our own school systems, California should pave the way for other states and start teaching the common necessities for life. Also, we need to realize our side to this story, that if we would like to be taught things that we will need as adults, then we must remember to act like adults and be mature when schools decide to teach us the necessities.
