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Should High School Be Optional? |
Education
is, arguably, the most important part of human existence.
Learning is a quality innate to human beings, and begins before
birth with the recognition of our mother’s voice.
Our brain has adapted to constant growth and intake of new
information, but, just as we are individuals both physically and mentally.
We have different ways of learning and different goals. A
controversy has arisen regarding whether or not high school should be
optional.
The main reason for these differing beliefs is the all too common
scene of a peer whose school work is a last priority, if one at all.
This indifference towards education has forced the state to
“dumb-down” classes, in an effort to keep a considerable number of
students from failing. The
result is a curriculum that is less challenging to the students who are
willing to make their education a first priority.
The reason for the lax work of some students can be attributed to a
variety of reasons. For many teenagers, independence becomes a highly sought
after status. In the drive
for financial independence, some students have abandoned education for
part-time jobs. Other excuses
range from the inability to learn in a classroom environment to simple
laziness.
With the recent implementation of the High School Exit Exam (HSEE),
taken by freshmen across the state, all high schools have made the test a
means of deciding who is allowed to graduate.
Due to the HSEE’s basic ninth grade material, it seems that a
ninth grade education is all that is needed to legally leave high school.
If this is so, then letting those who do not want to be involved in
high school stimulate our economy cannot be much of a loss.
By turning high school into an optional experience, there would be
a series of benefits. By
doing away with the high school mandate, the curriculum could be made more
challenging, and class time could be utilized more effectively.
The introduction of teenagers into a working environment, after
passing a basic skills test such as the HSEE, would let those remaining
learn more effectively. Despite these benefits, there are downsides to
making high school a voluntary endeavor.
If classes were to be made more difficult, the fear is that many
students will opt to leave high school for premature introduction to the
work force. This may result
in high schools so small that their operation would be next to useless.
This would make education a less valued priority in American
society. With effects such as this, colleges too would feel the blow.
Although some students do have occupations, very few, if any, would
comfortably support them or a family.
The jobs that many students have are merely part-time, minimum-wage
jobs to earn spending money. Certain considerations have been made for those who prefer a
more apprentice style approach to learning, such as the Southern
California Regional Occupational Center (SCROC).
By taking advantage of these and other programs offered by the
school, students who prefer the more “hands-on” learning approach are
adequately accounted for.
Although some state officials want to make the HSEE a more widely
used tool for determining the capabilities of high school graduates, its
ability to judge readiness for graduation is limited.
It only proves that student knows the bare minimum.
If it were used as a tool for early graduation, it might cause an
influx of barely educated workers, and cause the rise of a population
lacking in education and educational drive.