Living in the U.S., I am obviously grateful to have had access to a free public school education. I learned some very useful things throughout my time in the public school system, and while I am proud to know the difference between cirrus and cumulonimbus clouds, there is no doubt that the American education system is somewhat lacking in certain aspects. Here are 12 signs that the American public school system may have failed you:
1. You still don’t know how to file taxes
No idea.
2. You don’t know how to get on your own insurance plan
When do you have to do it? Just how long can you piggy-back off of your parents’ insurance plan? Where do you even begin once you actually need to get your own insurance?
3. You’re not even close to being bilingual
As a junior in college, I currently have about the Spanish vocabulary of a native-speaking two year old. This is pretty sad. Being able to communicate with a greater mass of people is an incredibly useful skill. I sincerely wish that thoroughly learning a second language was part of the required public school curriculum.
4. Nobody ever told you what a 401k is
After extensive independent research, you figured out that it’s probably something you should look into.
5. You have no clue how to change a tire
Listen, I’m one of the lucky ones. My dad is great with cars and I actually learned how to change a tire. But what about all of you with less auto-savvy parents? Are you supposed to be left to your own devices? There should be a mandatory class for this sort of thing.
6. Standardized tests caused you far more harm than good
The ACT/SAT is meant to determine a large part of your educational success, and yet half of your score on these time-crunching and stress-inducing exams depended on how good you were at guessing.
7. You only just learned how to register to vote
Voting is important, people. Your voice is essential, especially with such a… risky upcoming election. That being said, I had zero knowledge about voting registration up until a few months ago when I had to do some intense Google research before I figured out what I actually needed to do.
8. You cannot make any sense of the stock market
What does it do? Why is it there? Why are there so many numbers and percentages? What do they all mean?
9. You never actually learned how to make a job resume
You have looked at so many template examples and they all look completely different from one another. Shouldn’t there be a universally taught way to form a resume? And preferably someone to explain it to you?
10. It took far too long for you to realize that Christopher Columbus was not that great of a guy
That’s actually quite an understatement. He and his men committed countless atrocities against the indigenous people. He definitely does not deserve the recognition and praise that he is given when taught to kids in school.
11. Math class never taught you anything that is actually applicable to real life
You may not know how to pay your bills, but at least you can define “polynomial” and “logarithm.”
12. You weren’t properly taught about the less flattering events of America’s past
I personally didn’t learn about America’s Japanese internment camps until I happened upon the movie "Come See the Paradise." While (from what I remember) this was a pretty great film, it should definitely not have been my first encounter with the subject matter. If America’s younger generation isn’t learning about the past mistakes of the country, then how on earth are we supposed to learn from them?
