Hello and welcome back to Elisabeth’s Corner. Today we’re going to be exploring how well high school prepares students for life after graduation, going to college and living on their own. Before we start, think for a minute. If you’re a current student, do you feel prepared to graduate and move on with your life? Or if you’re a high school graduate, do you feel that high school accurately prepared you for everyday activities?
To go thoroughly in depth into the idea of college readiness, it’s important that we understand the curriculum currently taught in high schools. In most schools, there are four main core classes; science, math, english, and history. Along with these, there are optional classes that students can take if they fit into the student’s schedule. These may include but are not limited to languages, fine arts, physical education, performing arts, and computer programming classes.
Recently, there has been a decline in the number of skill building and home economics classes. According to Tove Danovich from NPR:
In 2012, there were only 3.5 million students enrolled in FCS [or family and consumer science] secondary programs, a decrease of 38 percent over a decade.
Although the curriculum taught in schools is necessary for college and finding a job after graduation, it’s not sufficient. Therefore, more material should be taught to prepare kids for the non educational aspects of life (Etherington). Learning to manage a good credit score, pay taxes, understanding property tax changes, interest rates, and paychecks are all very crucial things to learn before graduating and living on your own. Also, knowing how to handle stress, having a small repertoire of basic meals to cook for yourself, understanding how to work with others and the importance of health care are all very important responsibilities that are necessary when leaving home to live on your own. High school is the best time to learn these life skills because kids are entering adulthood, preparing to go to college and provide for themselves.
Doing all of this would be very difficult without at least a basic understanding of how to handle money. Kamara Turner from the Vidette Editorial Board at Illinois State University explained how:
Schools should also teach students how to build their own [company] from the ground up. Self-employment is a great idea, but many people fail to know how to begin their own business. As a result, schools should teach students how to pay taxes, manage finances and focus on the company’s structure for it to thrive.
As a college professor, Mr. Marti Harvey says that he takes one week per semester to teach his students important life skills that they don’t learn in high school, including managing money and understanding how to live on your own. His students always find these tips very useful, however what about the kids who don’t go to college? Do they not get the opportunity to learn these skills? (Harvey). If this was mandatory in high school, all students could be given equal chances to thrive after graduation.
Not only do there need to be more classes for life skills, there should be emotional help too. In college, stress and anxiety affect a students performance more than anything else (Guise). In fact, Lauren Watkins, a Behavioral Medicine clinician at Boston University stated that:
The number of students in crisis coming in for help [due to stress] has increased sharply—from 647 in the 2014–2015 academic year to 906 last year.
The issue is that school teaches knowledge, but life requires wisdom. Student’s stress so heavily on getting good grades, but, in reality, no one gets all ‘A’s’ in life. The important thing is that we learn from our failure and our experiences. Students shouldn’t be taught that the most important thing is getting a 100% on a test or a quiz, instead they should learn how to manage stress, because that’s something everyone struggles with at one time or another (Guise). As a recent high school graduate herself, Carla Miranda from America’s Promise Alliance stated that:
Stress topped the list with 31.8 percent of students reporting it caused them to drop a class or receive a lower grade; comparatively, only 3.5 percent said alcohol was to blame.
Often when kids are extremely stressed, they forget the importance of eating healthy and turn to Postmates, Uber Eats, or going out to dinner for the most convenient, but not always the healthiest option. The issues with obesity in the US are on the rise and we need to do everything we can do help stop it. Having a basic repertoire of a couple healthy meal options could not only decrease the struggles of obesity, it could save the students money. These skills could be easily incorporated into a home economics class and could help maintain a healthy diet for students when they are stressed and living on their own. Kamara Turner from the Vidette Editorial Board explained how:
Geometry and biology are great, but learning about paying bills and cooking healthy meals are aspects in life that will always be needed.
It’s essential that students are taught how to communicate, tolerate and work with others. These are great qualities to have when applying for jobs because almost any job requires people to get along with their co-workers in order to get things done. Even if they don’t agree with someone’s ideas, it’s important that they are respectful, so students need to learn to be tolerable with other’s views (Harvey).
Lastly, it’s crucial that students understand the importance of health care and health insurance. Although the healthcare system is always changing, and healthcare is different for everyone, the basic information on how to obtain and maintain health care is very important. Without medical care, anyone has a great financial risk if anything were to happen to them. This could put the student further in debt, and without a basic understanding of how to manage money, the addition of college debt could damage their credit score even before they enter the workforce (MB&CC).
Parents are expected to teach their kids all of these things at home, but many fail to do so. Marti Harvey, a college professor at The University of Texas at Arlington stated that:
Some parents don't have time. Some parents don't have the skills. Some parents don't think about it until it's time for their kids to leave home. And, since part of teaching is exposing kids to your own situation, some parents don't think it's any of their kids' business.
High school is supposed to prepare kids for life after graduation when they must learn to live on their own and survive in college. Much of the current material taught doesn’t accurately prepare them for the non- educational aspects of life. The solution is that home economics classes should be reintroduced to teach young adults the basic skills they need to thrive on their own. There should be lessons taught on the importance of healthcare and stress management to benefit all students. As well, money management courses should be mandatory in all high schools to prevent too much debt and bad credit scores.
Thank you so much for tuning into this week’s discussion on the issues with the current curriculum in high schools. Remember that a high school education is very important in today’s world, so even though some things could be changed to make it better, keep doing your best in school and don’t ever give up! See you next Friday back for another episode of Elisabeth’s Corner!