The Future

[6pwallis]

Many of us have heard over and over again, "this is junior year don't mess it up." I am 17 years old and I am being asked to make one of the most important decisions of my life. I have to get good enough grades to get into a good college and then that college and my experiences there will determine the rest of my life. Many adults forget that we are only in high school. In retrospect we have lived such short lives it's nearly impossible for anyone to be able to decide what they want to do. The fact that my four years in high school determines my future seems wrong to me. These four years should be focused on the development of you as a person. Find the answer to essential questions such as, who am I? Where do I belong? What do I believe? How are students expected to figure out both important aspects of life in just four years. It is too much to ask for. Do you believe that high school should be so focused on the academics and GPA?

[3zrheanna]

I believe that high school should be focused on preparing us for our future, yes. However, there comes a time where it is just too much. We have to ask permission to use the restroom while at the same time, are responsible for making major decisions that will determine our path in life at such a young age. Kids leave high school knowing how to find the circumference of a circle, but not knowing how to balance a checkbook. Not to say that academia is not important, however, at such a young and vulnerable age there should be more of a influence of finding ourselves, and truly knowing what we want instead of just stumbling along doing what everyone is telling us to, and moving at a pace that is way too fast for us. In addition, school fails to teach kids how to be independent, and there are severe gaps in knowledge between what kids are taught and what they actually need to know to be successful in whatever their chosen field is. This leaves colleges students, high school students, and sometimes even middle schoolers feeling anxious, stressed, depressed and lost. We don't know where life is going to take us yet, and we are not yet adequately prepared with the experience we need to deal with that.. but we feel like we are supposed to be.

[10tjustine]

I agree that high school should prepare you for the future. This is why I believe that one of the challenges of high school is learning how to balance academics with social events which can ultimately prepare you for college. Although, where you attend high school often impacts the amount of work given at certain times and the focus of students. For example, LaGuardia gives a great amount of work to academically prepare students for college but many students are also very focused on their artwork which sometimes doesn't allow students the time to complete massive academic achievements or worry about a gpa. But, in other schools, students start at 9 and get home at 2 in the afternoon, and therefore have much more time to find themselves and succeed academically. I believe that high schools should stress academics but also know the values of the students at the school, whether they be focused predominantly on arts or sports.

[6vjeremy]

High school is mirrored after college in intent, but not in practice. It seems to me that the overall goal of high school is to make the student a more well rounded individual. The only thing the policies in place to carry out this goal achieve, however, is a fed up and tired student body that has no appreciation for education. It feels like an institution alright, but not an academic one. The way security guards harass you when you walk around the halls seems more totalitarian to me, personally. Academics are important, but they do not determine who you are. I've been hearing this one phrase ever since the fourth grade and I am so sick and tired of it: "Act your age!" Perhaps, just maybe, and I know this may seem outlandish but bear with me, if we are acting a certain way, that is acting our age, and educators need to understand that they are not teaching adults, but 10 year olds. Even now, as a seventeen year old, I think back to that time when the saying started to become common, and feel as though should we have been allowed to act as a kid needs to act back then, we would be much more comfortable with the idea of being treated as adults now. All of our lives, we are expected to act older than we really are, it seems that we never really were expected to have a full childhood.

[3hsamori]

I believe that High School can focus on academics and your GPA but it can’t have such a large impact on what college you go to and what you do in the future. What people have to understand is that school isn’t for everybody and just because someone isn’t doing well academically doesn’t mean they are stupid. I personally have trouble balancing academics with sports and my social life; I constantly feel that I have to give up one of those to succeed in the other and that there isn’t enough time in the day to give one hundred percent in all those categories. This usually results in me losing sleep and not being able to function in school and in general. So many students have no idea what they want to do for a career and feel rushed into picking one, I know life is short but people need time to form their thoughts and figure out the choices they want to make. High School is a place filled with stressed and lost students which isn’t something our kids should have to go through.