It's no secret that many academic students are struggling with keeping their schoolwork under control. High school, especially, is harder and more competitive than ever, with kids fighting to get into good colleges, which are getting more and more picky about who they accept. Volunteering, coursework, studying, tests, grades, sports, can be difficult to balance. And while there are good things about our education system in the United States, there are things we could also work to improve. Stuff that may have worked in the past does not have the same effect on a newer generation of kids.
While our schools teach us a variety of subjects, there are many basic life skills that kids graduate from high school without knowing how to do. How to handle financial responsibilities, for one, or or analytical thinking. Analytical thinking is not necessarily something that can be learned in one class or a short period of time, and it is something that is often not covered in depth when schools focus more on rote memorization.
The pressure to get into college also tends to start at a young age these days. As young as middle school, kids are stressed about getting into an ivy league school, or having perfect grades. And of course, there isn't anything wrong with a student being motivated or wanting to have a good career.
Where the problem occurs is when a kid feels like a failure because they're not as good in math as their peers, or feels like their life is over because of a bad grade. And of course depending on where a student is in-come wise, they may not have access to materials that their classmates do, like reliable internet or textbooks which require money to purchase.
One of the biggest problems our educational system has is that it fails to take into account that each student is an individual with different needs and a different skillset. Sometimes kids are putting into boxes where they don't belong. And some career choices, such as the decision to become a teacher or go into a field such as English, are not respected and thought of as challenging.
There are both good and bad things about education in the US, and finding solutions to the various issues may not be quick and easy, but it's still worth improving upon.
