Most, if not all, high schoolers today are required to graduate with the same high school diploma. What this does is prove you are collage ready or bound? But in the day and age we are currently in, students are steering towards more trade schools or just wanting a job right out of high school. So why are all students required to graduate with a diploma if they have no intentions or plans to go to college? Simply, it’s our education system thinking they are preparing us for life when truly they are setting us up for a future where we will not need half of the requirements asked of us. 

There are certain requirements that need to be met for a student to obtain a high school diploma this includes Math, English, Science, Social Studies, Physical Education, and electives. At the end of your senior year, you are supposed to have 25 credits or more depending on what diploma you are going for. There are three types of diplomas you can go for in high schools such as a minim diploma, a standard diploma, and an advanced diploma which you have to work a little more for to accomplish.

Unless you are heading down the college path or looking into a career that requires you to use these skills taught in high school, going for the same diploma as everyone will not be useful later on in life. As for the students who are looking into a trade school or even cosmetology school, which is a school you go to learn trades such as welding, carpentry, automotive technology, and more. These schools typically take a few weeks to just a few months, with some being a short couple of years to complete making it a better option for most because of how much more affordable and short these schools usually are making it a better option for some. Trade school is also a better option for those who don’t want student loans or who just simply can’t afford to go to college on their own. 

From a job standpoint, you do need a high school diploma to get a job. As it is required, or strongly preferred, for most jobs today, but back in the 80s it wasn’t always like this. For example, there was certain career or choices given to you when it came around that time to decide on what you want to do after high school. This plan would still set students up to be college-bound students, but give the students that did not see college in their future a chance and opportunity to look into other options that are available to them. 

Students should be taught how to do their taxes and learn how to pay their bills. These are real-world events and what we will actually need in our step into our adult lives. Students come out of high school clueless, and not knowing what to do because to test and told to sit there and be quiet. Instead of preparing students on what they are expected to do in their adult lives they are given concepts and rules to follow that are nothing like the workplace or things they will even use inside their jobs. Unless you are becoming a teacher or are required to use any of these skills in your life or job which is rare then there is no point in forcing and making each individual student go for the same end result.  

Change is progress and what helps humans evolve throughout history. Fighting your way to show you are different from your classmates throughout the school system we have today is not change or progress being made. This system needs to see the drive and interest outside of just everyone going to college. This is the real world we need to prepare teens for it.