A common question in regards to high school is whether it prepares students for the real world, or just acceptance into college.
A typical day of high school consists of core classes such as mathematics, English and history but many argue that these classes aren’t essential in building a student’s basic life skills needed in adulthood.
In California, about 80% of schools provide five or more Advanced Placement (AP) classes and the average student will take three AP classes per year.
PVHS is in a competitive region of the South Bay, where schools typically push students to take advanced or honors classes in an attempt to look more appealing to college admissions officers.
This leads to the question – What happens if an individual does not plan to attend a four-year university or community college?
While high school develops a student’s mind and teaches them a wide variety of subjects necessary for continuing education in a university, some may choose to go on a different career path.
A possible solution to the missing pieces in the curriculum could be inclusion of more classes to prepare students for trade schools such as welding construction, emergency responders, etc. While these classes are offered through SCROC, not many students may know about them.
After high school graduation a senior can solve for X, recite elements on the periodic table, describe various wars throughout history, but often lack important foundational skills such as cooking,laundry, or balancing a checkbook.
Oftentimes once students are living by themselves for the first time, they tend to have trouble with everyday tasks.
The absence of social and life skills can negatively impact the youth of society as a whole once students are on their own in the real world.
In addition to adding trade school courses, schools should also offer elective classes for students interested in home economics to learn about personal finance, cooking, sewing and basic life skills in order to truly complete the high school experience.
The courses taken in high school set a student up to be appealing to colleges during the application process, oftentimes once students are living by themselves for the first time, they tend to have trouble with everyday tasks.