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By Kayla Blake
Many people agree with me when I say that the education system needs to be reformed.
As a high schooler, I can honestly say most of what we learn doesn’t prepare us for the real world. I have been very active in high school and have taken many advanced courses and most of them have not given me materials that will prepare me for the “real world” overall. If we want to have a better curriculum, it has to be inclusive of more social-emotional learning, home economics, and financial literacy.
Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) is extremely important because life is all about interacting with other people. Whether you are in college, working, or even going to the grocery store, it’s very social. SEL is used to target core problems including bullying, depression, and more. These are some of the biggest problems among youth in the US. Many teens have depression and/or have attempted suicide. Most middle and high schoolers have experienced bullying. These occurrences are proof that students need to have more SEL instruction; its scarcity is devastating the youth. By investing just a little more time in this, we will improve our community and nurture young people. SEL has also been shown to improve attendance and academics.
Another thing I believe we should be learning more about is home economics which is also been known as “Home Ec.” This includes basic skills that you will need to live on your own such as cooking, cleaning, housing design, etc. These are skills that everyone should learn to live a happy and healthy life. Everyone should know how to maintain a house and take care of themselves. It would be beneficial for everyone to be required to take this course. I wish that I had Home Ec because I would feel more prepared to go out to college and live on my own. This type of addition to the curriculum would aid kids and give them basic life skills.
The last thing is financial literacy. A lot of the reasons many people struggle financially is that they have never had anyone to teach them about how it works. I think this is something I could learn a lot more about. It would be great to know how to manage money and be financially educated, and for my peers to have the same opportunity. People who learn financial wellness and money management are more likely to be smarter with the way that they spend and invest. This would give us more information on how to maneuver through the real world.
In conclusion, students like myself should be spending less time on meaningless classes and learn how to step into adulthood after high school, no matter the path they want to take afterward. I wish to see these changes made as I believe it would improve my generation and set us up for success.
A few helpful links are below:
https://www.moneyunder30.com/budgeting-for-teens
https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/depression.html
