Teenagers feel unprepared for life after school Students left anxious about their fate after school

By Sahithi Ajjarapu StaffWriter

Today, students are pigeonholed into a curriculum that creates an adult specifically designed for professional life. Based on personal reflection, the world is plagued with ambition and need for monetary growth. I have always lacked this incessant want for aspiration and drive compared to my peers. It seemed that they had their lives planned out; some want to be a mechanical engineer, others a graphic designer, a teacher or doctor. Without expectation, a feeling of disorientation plagued my mind. Coming from an Indian family, I was told I had three choices: a career in Information Technology (IT), becoming a doctor or becoming an engineer. Not feeling a connection to any of these options but because I needed prospects and a job to support myself in the future, I begrudgingly agreed to my parents’ suggestions. As I developed my interests in high school, my desires for my careers became clearer, although I still felt very unsure. Now, after my college life decisions have been made, I find myself feeling anxious about my future endeavors.

A problem that I have with school curriculums today is the fact that they are fundamentally designed for getting into college–nothing else. Schools are filled with the generic classes: math, history, English, but not a thing about building well-rounded individuals. Even from Walpole High School (WHS), and surrounding school districts, the goal of attending those six hours is to get scores that are sufficient for an acceptance letter. An unprecedented amount of importance is put on numbers and scores. For example, Advanced Placement (AP) classes; although these courses provide students with an excellent education, the end goal of these classes is ultimately passing the AP exam, not learning the material to perfection. Even though AP courses are an exceptional experience, they do not prepare the student for a future in a world full of hustle and bustle, because the classes focus only on ‘textbook’ knowledge. Students require education on ‘street smarts’ – i.e. learning how to properly manage money, doing one’s laundry, and a plethora of other household chores required for day to day life as an adult. Furthermore, in spite of the fact that these classes are presented as courses that students that possess a higher grade point average (GPA) choose to take, in my opinion, they do not accurately present a student’s intellect–as is the case for most, if not all, standardized tests.

As a student about to graduate, I feel more primed to ace standardized tests compared to tackling the difficult adjustment into the world of corporate jobs, which is a feeling that does not make me feel ready for adulthood. Personally,

I believe the recurrence of Home Economics (Home Ec or HE) classes would be greatly beneficial for the student body. I have met individuals who are not familiar with basic household chores, such as doing their laundry, or cooking. These activities are infinitely more advantageous to students compared to what they learn in classes currently (ie; trying to configure ways to game standardized tests). To be taught things additional to the required curriculum, learning things that would aid me–and others–in normal daily life would allow students a sense of comfort in juxtaposition to their anxiety and insecurities about choosing their futures.

Even though bringing back Home Ec as a class is a very specific example, I believe that argument still stands. In my opinion, and experience, schools put an unnecessary amount of importance on attaining exceptional grades. In my view, students who do not meet the standards are often scrutinized for not assimilating into the rigorous academic culture. Schools fail to account for extraneous stimuli, like unsupportive family and friends, when addressing such topics (those topics being teaching students life skills). Since attending school is a major part of a child’s life, the way I see it, schools should take more responsibility in teaching students skills that prepare them for corporate life. Where families fail to teach their kids, schools should take over. Additionally, it seems to me that schools place too much importance on the end product of students’ efforts (the grades), rather than the learning process involved in receiving said grade. This mentality promotes feelings of inadequateness that can transfer into the later parts of an individual’s life, thereby leading to very maladaptive behaviors like avoidance because they do not want to be considered wrong or get something incorrect – furthering unpreparedness that they may already feel.

All in all, as a student filled with apprehension and anxiety about my future, I think the policies in place currently do not benefit the student body. The focus on academic achievement and lack of focus on mundane life skills put students at a severe disadvantage. They are unable to properly adjust to life without the guidance and assistance of parents and/or guardians, which obviously causes easily remedied anxiety within students.

For that cause, students should be given more education on daily skills, like laundry and cooking, to help better prepare themselves for life after school.