Who thinks that high school actually does prepares students for the real world?
By shaqmacgrady
@shaqmacgrady (15)
Tonga
11 responses
@shaqmacgrady (15)
• Tonga
29 Jan 09
haha so true half the teachers dont know how to post their grades online without difficulty!
@cobrateacher (8432)
• United States
29 Jan 09
I've been a high school teacher since we came out of the caves, and the curriculum is much more realistic than it used to be. We do, indeed, prepare the students for a great deal other than college. Unfortunately, the requirements of standardized testing don't permit us the time each area really needs. I arranged for scholarships to career schools for two students today alone, so they'll be in direct-prep programs - 1 for 6 months and the other for 2 years. They're doing their career preparations without the academics required for a college education.
@goldeneagle (6745)
• United States
29 Jan 09
The last two years of high school are a total waste of time. Way too much emphasis has been placed on those standardized tests such as the FCAT tests that students here in Florida have to take. The tests don't have any real value, except for the fact that they help the government decide who gets the money for funding. The schools with the better scores get the most money, so students spend half the year preparing to take the tests so they can score really high on it and get more money for their school instead of spending that time learning stuff that will actually help most of them in real life situations. People are starting to realize that the tired old adage of going to college for four years and spending tens of thousands of dollars for an education is falling by the wayside.
What this country really needs is a complete overhaul of the educational system. I say that we do away with the last two years of high school, making the 10th grade a student's senior year. In general, people get their driver's license some time during the 10th grade. The students could then go ahead and start taking college courses, or they could get out and start working and become a productive member of society. This would save the schools money, not to mention that more students would likely elect to go to college. By the time students stay in school through the 12th grade the way they do now, most of them are so burnt out with schooling that they have NO desire whatsoever to try to go to college. I know this was the case with a lot of people I graduated with. By the time we got done with high school, most of us had no desire to go straight to college. We were ready for a break. Unfortunately, a lot of us took years to go back to school, if we went back at all. It is definitely time to rethink our educational system...
@ketybhagat (4123)
• India
29 Jan 09
Neither high school or college actually prepares you for the real world. Its totally different from the world of books. What we studied in college is just a pebble on the seashore of life. I feel there is no comparision. I am a Pharmacy student and what we studied in college and what we learn by experience in big pharmaceutical firms was vast different. You actually get to learn only by experience.
@gamingworld (577)
• United States
30 Jan 09
I thin its a waste. I didnt learn anything, and I dont think its gonna be useful for me in the future. What prepares you for the real world is a part time job and see how its like. Once you see it than you dont want to stay no longer. High school just something you choose to do, if you want to do it then might as well want to go to college. Better education better job better pay, better life. High school is just for knowledge which seems to be power, which I need. High school really depends on how you do it.
@darcmay (36)
• United States
30 Jan 09
to be honest i dont think it does, the only thing that prepared me for the real world was my 8th grade teacher being a jerk about organization. thats the only thing in all my middle/high school that i retained, and im almost done with an AAS
@hemiboy6 (4)
• United States
29 Jan 09
I do to an extent. The curriculum is very wide, and will help you get very little jobs. If you take college prep courses, that will make it easier, because you won't have to take as many classes in college. I will be a junior next year, but will be going to college for an engineering degree, and I won't have to take English 11, Algebra II, or Trigonometry I, because of taking college prep classes as a freshman, and sophomore.
@Infernal (135)
• Canada
29 Jan 09
Not entirely, no. I think it teaches us how to work with others, and work in an environment where there are always people, but this is not a realistic view. Then again, University also doesn't teach about "real life". I don't think anything can teach about real life except real life itself.
In the real world, things can be more "cutthroat" (depending on what job you hold), and nothing really prepares you for that. You can be the best at whatever it is you do, but internal politics will usually influence what happens with what.
As for preparing those who go to college...from what I experienced, not really. Yes, University is more difficult, but for some reason High School seems to be more motivational (at least, it was for me). High School tries to prepare you for the hard work in college/University, but it doesn't try and teach you what it's like to be completely on your own, having to force yourself to work on your own, etc. In High School, teachers sort of "nag" on you to get your work done, and in University, nobody cares what you do.
@sanuanu (11235)
• India
29 Jan 09
Others can also do better in their life. I mean the world is so cruel. Not everyone can get success. I mean you can see many persons do good in schools but they do become bad fellows after going into college. What can we do about them?
We have many examples where a person who never went to school become a very successful person in his/her life!
@redhotpogo (4401)
• United States
29 Jan 09
Yeah, but everything as a whole, not individual subjects. High school teaches you the importance of multitasking, thinking on your feet, problem solving, and butt kissing. All things you'll need to survive in the real world. How well you actually do in your subjects doesn't matter. So nerd it up all you want, you'll get the same crappy job the rest of us get. Stay in school kids. Or alot of people will be without jobs (teachers, janitors, lunch ladies, security, those annoying pta mothers.)
@crimsonladybug (3112)
• United States
29 Jan 09
I think a lot more could be done but I think high school is meant to prepare students for college, where they will be, albeit inadequately, prepared for the real world.
I don't know what is required of students in most high schools but in mine we were required to take a class in basic, personal business skills - balancing a checkbook, balancing a budget, etc - and a class that was kind of like home ec. only modernized. We learned how to shop by value rather than price (something I actually still use), how to look for an apartment, and other "life lessons."
When I got to college I was left to my own devices. I really think that college freshmen should be required to take a class that runs the duration of the year and helps them lay out their options. My senior year in college I took a Careers for English Majors class. But it was a 400 level class so it was really only an option for juniors and seniors. It should have been a 100 level class, required for all freshmen considering English as their major before they would be allowed to declare their major. It would save a lot of time in the long run.
@jambi462 (4576)
• United States
29 Jan 09
I don't think that high school really does prepare you for the real world. I just think that there's much more interesting stuff in this world that you won't get taught by high school teachers. High school just kind of brainwashes you into fitting into everyday society and just trying to fit in. I would much rather believe in a life that is much better then that.
