Please enjoy this article from DMHS's "Introduction to Journalism" class!
Oprah Winfrey once said “Education is the key to unlocking the world. It is the passport to freedom.”
Education is really important, but are the types of things that students are learning in school important? How much of what students learn do they use in their adult life?
Evyn, a math specialist at Denver Montessori Junior Senior High School (DMHS) said, “One of the biggest things I use in real life that I learned in school was writing essays, writing emails, and writing summaries. I have to write things every day so that comes up a lot.”
Long-time educator Josefita Lopez-Khosravi is glad she learned math in school because it helped her with budgeting as an adult.
School is very important in lots of different aspects but the education students are receiving doesn't really benefit them in the real world. In some cases, they are not learning what they need to be learning. Yes students are learning math and writing that may benefit them later on, but students also need classes to help them with daily tasks.
Christian Vigil, a ninth grade student, said he doesn't know how to do his own laundry. People need to know these things to be a successful adult. Instead of learning what slope is, students should be learning things that will later benefit them in the future, like how to be successful, pay bills and how to make appointments.
According to a study conducted by YouthTruth, “About half of students do not feel that what they learn in school will help them outside the classroom.” They also stated, “Just 54 percent of middle schoolers and 46 percent of high schoolers think their studies are relevant.” That is less than half of the students. If students know that they are not going to use the stuff they learn in school later on, then why do they learn it?
James Cole, a ninth grade student at DMHS, when interviewed about what he thinks he will use in adult life from school, said, “Probably like grammar skills and how to have normal conversations.” James also said school has not prepared him enough for his adult life, he also said he wants to learn more about financial decisions and health. Another student at DMHS also said that she would like to know more about financial decisions and how to pay taxes.
“I want to learn how to be a successful adult. I also want to learn how to pay taxes and learn more budgeting skills,” Emely, another ninth grader, said.
If more schools had classes on practical life skills, where students would learn more about how the economy works or take a home economics class, life would be easier on the students when they graduate. Some teachers worry about the things students are learning. Amiya O’Brian who is the Office Manager at DMHS said, “No, the things students learn in school will not benefit them later in life, because I feel like kids aren’t learning the vital life skills that they need like how to budget, or how to change a tire. They learn a lot of academics but you can’t apply everything that you learn in academics to real life situations.”
Robin Yokel who is an elective teacher at DMHS said, “Students should be learning a lot of practical skills of how to take care of yourself as an adult but also how to think critically and logically and how to be empathetic so you guys can be really educated citizens and vote wisely.” Amiya and Robin had the same opinion that kids should not just be learning math and science but also life skills that they need.
If more people see the problem, more schools can have classes where they teach practical life skills. People will be surprised with how many kids are lacking the skills they need to be successful adults.
Grace Turner is an 8th grader at DMHS.
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