High School Needs This Class

You know, I've gone to school for the better half of two decades and there are a couple of things that I realized along the way: Teachers are not paid anything remotely close to what they should be, no math after college algebra is relevant unless you're going into a field related to mathematics, standardized testing is biased, and there is nothing in high school that truly helps you plan for becoming an adult.

Sure, there are courses like Culinary, Parenting, and that one introduction class you take when you first enter the school. The problem is that all these courses are not even offered everywhere. They are only taught in select locations. You learn how to take care of a fake baby, cook, and some bare minimum knowledge about your high school that you're going to forget within two weeks of leaving the course.

What class will I learn how to apply for a credit card? How to apply for a loan? Where can I learn the basics of how financial aid works since I'm being pressured to pursue further education? How do I learn how to rent a home? How to buy a home? How do I learn how to drive if no one can help me outside of school? How can I open a bank account? How do I maintain a stable financial life? How do I apply for a job? How do I learn about the importance of saving money and not spending it?

Where is that class? We get lied to when the education system forces irrelevant knowledge down our throats and doesn't teach us the basics of how to become a successful adult. What's more important, how to use cosine on a scalene triangle or trying to plan for your future once you leave high school?

This is why so many students struggle when it comes to transitioning from high school into the “real world”. I don't like using the term “real world” because that's where you were to begin with. That's kind of played out. The real world is what you make of it, not what you haven't experienced yet.

Students struggle because there is no class that teaches them how to answer any of the questions that I listed above. You can't expect a smooth transition from one stage of life to the next if there is no assistance in getting there. We literally have to Google everything if we want to know how to do it. I don't want to sit down wasting time on Google to help me figure out the keys to life when I'm fifteen. If that's the case, why even go to school, right?

High school is the part between adolescence and adulthood where you are supposed to learn the most. But, that isn't the case. You can be one of the most academically gifted students to ever grace the Earth, but what does all of that mean if you can't figure out how to create a resume? What does that mean if you can't apply for a job because you don't know how to, nor do you the steps that it takes to do it successfully?

There's a huge gap that high school is meant to fill, and it just doesn't do that effectively. There's a lot more to understand in life outside of getting A's in math and science classes. You would think that in consecutive sessions of nine months of school we would be able to learn something valuable that will stick to us and help us get through the transition period.

If the questions I presented were focused on in school as much as maintaining a 3.0 G.P.A. was, then students would come out of high school with much more knowledge than they do now and wouldn't have nearly as many issues as they have in the present-day.

I don't know about all of you, but I would take valuable learning lessons over wasting nine months to get a padded grade point average any day. Not saying that the education system is going to act upon anything I just said, but it would be a great start to improving education. You want students to stop dropping out of school? You want more effort put into classes? You want more student motivation?

Then, put something useful and engaging in the education system. Because it's obvious that bringing in D.A.R.E and the safe sex programs once a year isn't exactly effective with helping transition these kids into adulthood.