In high school, students have certain requirements to meet to be able to graduate, including having 40 credits for English, 20 credits for science (30 credits are recommended), and 30 credits for history. These classes make up the majority of the high school curriculum, but where are the classes teaching skills applicable for the real world? High school teachers claim that they are preparing students for the future whether it be attending a 4-year college, entering the workforce, or serving in the military. But where are the classes that teach students how to pay bills and taxes, how to rent an apartment, how to buy a house, or even how to manage your money?

“I would really like to have classes of financial help because I have a very hard time saving my money and I am always spending on clothes,” says Bethzy Cantu (10). 

For many years, there was a requirement for community service and if you did not complete the number of hours, you would not be able to graduate. I understand that community service is a good thing since students would be encouraged to make a difference within their community and perhaps be able to experience working in the real world. As time went on, however, the school district took out the community service requirement and made it optional. I was very upset about this because it was the greatest chance for high school students to catch a glimpse of the real world and how it works. 

School districts need to start offering classes on how the real world works and use these as credits for a student’s elective, their visual/performing art class, or even just as a club. Classes teaching you how to become financially stable, how to commute and not get upset in a disagreement, and how to improve organizational skills are classes that will actually help these students. Some students that are in debt after college have difficulty finding jobs or saving up to pay it off. This debt may lead to struggles with renting or buying an apartment or house. Nobody should be living paycheck to paycheck because it limits one’s financial freedom. If you want to travel and just live your life, you can’t because you never learned how to properly manage your money. 

I am very grateful that I have older siblings that can help me with all these things, but many people don’t, and they never end up living their dream life. I also know that some of them don’t have anyone to teach them, especially students who come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. For those students, I really hope that the school will start offering classes or clubs that will help them in the future. This should be taken under consideration because students want to live their best lives and can’t because they don’t have these simple but necessary life skills. I truly believe that these classes should be added to the curriculum and they will affect these students in a positive way. 

Marie De Santos (9) said, “ I really want to learn about how money works in the real world because before today, I didn’t even know what credit was.”