The school system has been a controversial topic for years–whether it’s effective or not. Many students believe that school doesn’t educate them on things that matter in the real world.

While many people disagree and believe school is a detrimental factor to the development of children’s minds, I think it’s the exact opposite. 

The school system has been set up to control and limit the thinking of adolescent minds. There’s only a right and wrong answer to everything, and there’s only one way to solve a problem. 

This limits the optimism of children’s minds and ruins their thought processes. 

School was created to educate and prepare children for the “real world”. However, if that is the case, we wouldn’t be taught to have such a narrow mindset. 

I believe that school is good for social development. Working with other students to solve problems, and learning how to formally talk to people, is something that needs to be introduced. 

In the “real world”, communicating with others and understanding how to resolve issues is an everyday skill. 

However, in some classes, teachers want students to stay silent, not converse with their classmates, and just listen. 

This produces weak and demoralized students, teaching them subordination and not to speak their opinions. We are creating listeners in a world that desperately needs people to speak up. 

Another issue that I hear most frequently about is the curriculum. 

One of the most common things I hear students say is, “When am I ever going to use this in the real world?”

I have asked myself this hundreds of times; I know for certain that in my future career, I won’t be utilizing sin, cosine, and tangent. Why am I being forced to learn them? 

In high school, we are supposed to prepare teenagers to become adults, and being an adult comes with a lot of responsibility. 

One of the ways we can teach this responsibility is by allowing students to determine which classes they think will fit their calling the most. 

While it is possible to choose certain classes, there are still strict and copious requirements, which leaves a narrow selection. This is so you meet college requirements, and can graduate.

Still, I believe that this system is very outdated. It doesn’t provide the freedom to explore what will align with students’ careers. 

Of course, this isn’t something that can be changed very easily, because it involves the college system. 

Overall, school was created to make workers and people who listen to instructions.

This environment is good for social interaction and learning how to collaborate with others. Yet, the way we are taught and the materials we are equipped with are significantly outdated.