As many 8th graders at Indian Hills know, high school scheduling is stressful! There are so many options, from video production to debate to band, and they all fit into perfectly curated career paths we’re supposed to choose that will get us “college ready” by senior year. But is it actually good for kids to map out their future at age 14? The career-based classes at the high school may seem like a great way for kids to get a leg up on competition for future college and job applications, but they may actually end up hurting kids in the long run.
At fourteen, most students are still figuring out who they are, and interests that seem important in eighth grade could be completely different by junior or senior year. In fact, most high school students say they change their career choice at least once before entering the workforce. So why are our schools forcing 13 and 14-year-olds to pick the path that ultimately shapes their lives when most students don’t even stick with one job interest through high school?
And I know what you might be thinking: but there are actually a lot of elective spots in the high school schedule, so they do give you room to try out these different classes and find your interests. And while it is true that there are a good number of open spots for these classes, if you want to excel and earn an executive position in any of these elective classes, you have to have been a part of them for at least a year, and 2-3 years in many cases. For example, if you want to be a part of the East coffee shop because you love business and entrepreneurship, but you haven’t taken the correct prerequisites, you simply won’t be able to achieve your goal. Another example is the newspaper. Say you take a journalism class the summer before senior year, and discover it’s one of your passions, and you want to be involved in it at school, you’ll have to first apply to skip Journalism 1 and be accepted, which only happens to a small number of students. Even if you are accepted, there is almost no chance you’ll be able to become an editor or have one of the top positions with less than a year under your belt.
This puts multi-interest kids at a particular disadvantage because they are made to pick and choose which classes to put their energy in, most times without even knowing if they’ll actually enjoy the class they picked. And if they end up not liking the class that they picked, it can set them behind years on the class path they actually end up enjoying more. Even if they end up liking the class they chose, they still might want to be involved with another activity they were not able to be involved with. This could require them to look for alternatives outside of school, using up more money and time than the average student, ultimately putting them behind on schoolwork and other aspects of their education.
Some people argue that these career-focused high school electives prepare students for future jobs and make it easier for them to get hired later on in life. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, students who took CTE or Career and Technical Education courses in high school were more likely than those who did not take CTE to be employed after high school. This is a valid point and is definitely true for those who stayed with the same career interest all through high school and on to later life, but as www.ngpf.org states, 54% of college grads work in a field unrelated to their major, meaning more than half of graduates won’t even get help from their college degrees to get a job, much less the classes they took in high school.
Now knowing that the current high school elective system isn’t effective for most students, it is time to make a change. Let us come together and institute a more open school system, focusing on exposing kids to many kinds of interests and activities to create a more well-rounded and skilled future generation. I implore you to reach out to the district, school board, and any other interested party and tell them about why we need a change to our school system.
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