Why Aren’t Schools Teaching Us About Real World Responsibilities?
Cielo Giandomenico | Editor
Growing up I never thought much about taxes or how they work. Simply because I always thought that they were an issue for adults. But now that I am an adult, I have no idea how to do adult tasks, such as taxes. Towards the end of my high school career, I wondered why we never learned how to file our taxes. I understand now that everyone files their taxes differently, so it would be difficult to teach a diverse number of students.
Another problem I’m running into is applying for a student loan. High schools help you apply for college, but college is expensive. I need loans to attend college and all they give us are pamphlets with shiny models and website information. Again, just like taxes, all loans are different which means it’s difficult to teach in high school, but a basic understanding would be beneficial.
I get told by many people that my parents should be teaching me how to do these kinds of things, and they are, to the best of their ability, but what about people who don’t have parents? Or what about the parents who aren’t sure of how to properly go about these processes either.
Articles I’ve read say that high schools essentially do teach kids the skills to complete these adult tasks. According to these articles, high school already has taught us enough skills to file our taxes, as in basic reading and math. However, basic reading and math aren’t enough to understand how to properly file taxes or complete loan applications. High school is supposed to teach more than math, science, history, and reading. High school is intended to teach us life skills like social/self-management, how to communicate, and create interpersonal relationships. I personally don’t believe my high school did me any good with those skills.
I understand the complexity of adult tasks we must take on, and that the point of being an adult is learning and making mistakes. There are many other tasks that would be valuable for high schools to teach students besides taxes and loans. All I ask is for a little guidance for my future other than college.