CMV: The US should admit defeat with regards to the majority of the high school curriculum and instead teach different soft skills

I think it's clear that the US is falling behind the rest of the industrialized world with regards to the high school curriculum. I though I'd knock together a few points I'm convinced of regarding the matter.<br><br>**Argument 1:**<br>I can't think of a single reason why the majority of high schoolers should be forced to take geometry. What % of the working class actually uses these sorts of math problems on a daily basis (I'm not talking about engineers/scientists, I mean working class people in general)? Aren't there better uses for the hours students are forced to spend on these topics? Perhaps it's more important to educate students on how to make healthier choices and cook their own food. Or maybe we could teach them some basic differential diagnosis (e.g. cold vs. flu, sprain vs. dislocation, etc.). I don't think very many high schoolers know basic life skills like how to apply a tourniquet or properly treat burns. We could take the time to teach those very important skills to students<br><br>**Argument 2:**<br>I realize many students will need to take these high level math courses to get into college, but there are so many students who fall behind and fail because they don't excel in a very narrow window of subjects. And then what happens to those students who fall behind? They're all lumped in together and treated as equally inept, which is completely not true. There's definitely a student who has trouble with geometry but would thrive in a business class. There are so many students who have excellent spatial awareness but can't succeed academically because they struggle to understand how to solve for x in algebra<br><br>**Argument 3:**<br>There should be many more vocational training programs in place. What % of high schoolers actually go on to college? It's a much more realistic expectation to think of a high school diploma as an opportunity to apply for the workforce, rather than a ticket to college (I realize this is true for some schools, but not a whole lot of them). Maybe if schools focused more on the "why" behind things a little more, students would be more excited to learn the "how". I'm not sure why so many high schools are so against this. I can think of a few reasons why this should be the case:<br><br>1. high schools don't realize that the vast majority of their graduates won't go to college<br>2. high school diploma = ticket to college mentality<br><br>They don't take into account the fact that a college degree is becoming more and more necessary to actually get a job. But hey, that's a whole different story.<br><br>**Argument 4:**<br>I'm not saying we can completely abolish the current curriculum right now, but I think that's what schools should be working towards. Right now I think we should be working towards integrating some basic life skills into the curriculum. I don't really care if it's in a differential diagnosis or business or cooking or whatever, I just think we should focus on getting students ready to be independent adults. I think a high school diploma should mean something, and I think that should be the standard we hold ourselves to.<br><br>As I said earlier, if students actually learned about the "why" behind things a bit more, I think they'd be far more interested in learning the "how". I'm not saying we should abolish all the information we're currently teaching, but I do think there are more important things that we should be teaching students in order to be ready for the workforce than how to make a five paragraph essay.<br><br>**Argument 5:**<br>I don't think any of my above points are really that radical. I think this is slowly becoming the general consensus: that US schools are failing to provide the skillsets that we need in order to succeed. I'm not suggesting we overhaul the entire system right now, I just think we need to work towards that as a long-term goal.<br><br>In conclusion, I think that we really need to reevaluate the US high school system.<br><br>**EDIT:**<br>Wow, I'm a bit blown away by the amount of support I've received for the idea that high school curriculum needs to be reevaluated. I definitely agree that some subjects should be retained, but I think that the largest priority should be placed on teaching soft skills, business skills, and other skills that will allow students to step out into the world as independent adults. I disagree with the notion that all of the life skills I've mentioned should be taught in the home. It's not fair to place that expectation on parents, especially considering how many students come from broken homes or otherwise difficult living situations. The home is not always a place of learning and safety and comfort for all students. I don't think we need to place all of these expectations on parents.<br><br>Also, I think if schools placed more of an emphasis on teaching business skills and soft skills, things like bullying and social cliques and other social conflicts would fade away.<br><br>Also also, I get what you're saying about the whole "it's not schools responsibility" thing, but I think it absolutely is. It is the responsibility of the school to give its students the tools they need to succeed. By only teaching students how to write essays and solve for x, schools are failing to provide their students with the skills they need to thrive in the real world. Schools are 100% responsible for ensuring that their students are prepared for the world, and that responsibility should be taken very seriously. I completely disagree with the notion that there is a line schools cannot cross with regards to parenting, and that teaching things like maintaining emotional control or teaching students to cook is crossing that line.<br><br>Also also also, I think there is a large distinction between teaching students to write an essay and teaching students how to argue effectively. Clearly schools place a huge emphasis on the first, but I don't see very much effort being placed on teaching the second. I think there should be classes on how to debate, and how to argue your point effectively. I think this should be a required class with many different sections, so high schoolers can pick which class focuses on a topic that's important to them.