When I graduated from high school, I was sure of one thing and one thing only, that I didn’t know a damn thing about the real world, or at the very least not very much about it. Either way, I was confused and found myself rather clueless about things that are necessities in order for survival. Now I’m not at all saying that all high schools are a waste of time. The academics I learned have certainly come in handy from time to time. Every now and then I’m able to whip out the following method or do some math to find out exactly how many times I can hit my snooze button before heading to class without being late. However I do believe that it wouldn’t hurt to amend the education system so that upon graduating, students are more prepared for the real world.
Studies have shown that freshmen graduates do not know how to do many basic tasks such as cooking, shopping for groceries and opening a bank account. Some might ask why this responsibility should fall on the school. Being that many schools are public and that we have access to them until we’re 17, those years are a perfect opportunity to not only be educated academically, but also to learn life skills. It may not sound like a big deal at first, but when you take into consideration that many people in a certain generation don’t know things such as: handling credit, money management or even their own rights it should be something more of us are worried about. Many believe that these life skills should but taught at home rather than in skills, but not all of us have parents at home who can teach us the ins and outs of how the world works.
I didn’t realize just how much I didn’t know about the real world until I opened my first account. I remember being asked questions and receiving a bunch of information that I was hardly able to decipher. Even after being in the school system for so long, I didn’t know much, if anything, about day to day life. The same thing happened when I got my first W2 form, and when I filed taxes for the time, and when I filled out my first FAFSA. Even now, there’s still much I’m not equipped to handle. Dedicating a portion of public school’s curriculum to teaching life skills, or even putting the offer on the table at the very least, could make a big difference in the number of young adults who feel that they are prepared to go about day to day life.
In the future, it would be beneficial to see a shift in school systems so that instead of having to take several algebra classes that aren’t guaranteed to help everyone in life, more time is dedicated to skills everyone can use, like how to balance a checkbook or write a good resume. Because let’s face it, more young adults knowing how to take care of themselves and execute basic life skills would make things easier on everyone.
