Most students in the United States endure four years in high school, whether they benefit from the final year or not. Recently, there have been several discussions in numerous states about the elimination of 12th grade. Some states, such as Florida, have passed laws that permit students to graduate from high school with 18 credits instead of 24 which allows them to graduate after their junior year. Similarly, other states, such as Colorado, have proposed the direct elimination of the 12th grade and pressed rather for an added year of preschool. Although senior year is often referred to as the “quintessential year of high school,” it has lost both its value and identity due to the abuse and degradation many have attributed to it (Pinzur C12). Senior year in Louisiana should be eliminated because it presents unnecessary costs to the state and hinders …show more content…
By their senior year, most students have taken all the necessary classes that they need to graduate - math, English, science, etc. - and are left to take several electives to fill the void. Although some enjoy electives, most students are ready to begin their lives and start college. For instance, Jess Rojas, a high school senior, describes his typical school day as “not challenging” and “easy to get good grades” because he finished his requirements by the end of his junior year (Hsu 36). His senior year is treated as though it does not matter and shows no benefit for him academically. If senior year were to be eliminated, students would be able to receive their diplomas early and begin college, technical school, or work, getting a head start on life. Students should not have to degrade their education by taking unnecessary classes just to have credits to graduate. Therefore, it is in the state’s best interest to rid of senior year to help students excel and be more productive
The idea of having to go to school every day for at least twelve years conjures a lot of different emotions – some may be excited about the idea of learning new things and exploring their minds, while others may be exasperated just by imagining the curriculum they must complete during this time span. The term “senioritis” is derived from the feeling of irritability during a student’s last year of high school; this can cause a nosedive in GPA, lack of effort in assignments, and leaves the student with little to no determination to finish the school year. With this said, as years pass through a student’s academic journey, their passion, if there ever was any to begin with, is likely to dwindle down by the time
From the beginning of high school, students strap on their seatbelts and prepare for one of the most vigorous races of their lives – becoming successful. With the rare occurrence of a break, kids are expected to keep on driving as fast and as powerfully as they can in order to get into a “great” college, which would be followed by graduate school and then an actual job that would make a lot of money. In American society, common values include working hard, determination, and being so productive that free time is not even a question. However, this philosophy is taking a major toll on American college and high school students. For at least 40 years, America’s future has been steadily growing unmotivated, tired, and hopeless due to the overemphasis on performing well in school. This phenomenon is appropriately expounded in William Zinsser’s “College Pressures”, which takes a look at the top four sources of tension that cause these feelings of dejection and agitation. After reading this article, I came up with a few solutions to this national problem. It is time to switch the harsh, over-encouraging green light of education to a comfortable yellow one. In order to make this ideal transition, directors of education across the country need to primarily reduce the amount of out-of-class assignments, lighten the grading system, and incorporate days in the school year that allow students to express their thoughts about school and provide useful feedback.
High school students should not have to serve one hundred hours of community to graduate because they already have enough on our plates as it is. Most teens already have multiple things going on in there lives. Adding on one more extra requirement onto the hectic schedules of these teens will cause an overload. The school piles kids down with homework and also expects students to study in order to get good grades, which it should be expected, but that is the limit for most. For example, lets say and average teenager who has to pay for their own care and gas and also other e...
As students near the end of the academic year, they are constantly faced with some of the same choices the generations before them have been presented with too. The biggest question a lot of seniors in high school have to answer is if they are going to be attending college or not. There are a lot of legitimate reasons as to why a person might not attend a college, but I personally feel like everybody should have a higher education if they have the opportunity to do so. One of the biggest reasons that people do not have the opportunity to pursue higher levels of school is the fact that they do not have enough money to pay for it. With the staggering amount of debt, the majority of students incur in college, it is becoming a
“Man masters nature not by force but by understanding. This is why science has succeeded where magic failed: because it has looked for no spell to cast over nature”. From the beginning of time man and nature has been in conflict with one another because, as a whole, there is no cooperating. Each one tirelessly wants its way. The Man is fighting for dominance and nature w never yielding its authority. In American Literature, many authors illustrate this theme in their writing. Specifically the writers Jack London in The Law Of Life, Stephen Crane The Open Boat and Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Fin. Each explores the relationship between humans and nature but with slightly different methods. Mark Twain uses nature in a realistic way, Jack London in a naturalistic way and Stephen Crane constitutes a combination of both.
“In a study entitled “The Lost Opportunity of Senior Year: Finding a Better Way," released in 2001, the commission found that for many students, that year "becomes party-time rather than a time to prepare for one of their most important life transitions. ... Many students reported 'ditching ' senior classes because the atmosphere encouraged them to consider senior year a farewell tour of adolescence and school." The commission also suggested that senioritis may, in fact, be most pervasive among the "best and the
“Twelfth grade…amounts to a fidgety waiting period that practically begs for decent into debauchery and concludes in a big dumb party under a mirror ball that spins in place like the minds of those beneath it.” Essayist and novelist Walter Kirn, in his article “Class Dismissed”, uses statements such as this to attest his opinion that senior year should be removed in part—if not altogether—from the high school system. Kirn sees senior year as an unnecessary extension to the education of students when time is wasted or otherwise spent causing trouble. So completely does he believe this that he states the following: “… [seniors] rule, not because they’ve accomplished much… but because it’s tradition…” The work force or beginning higher education would be superior choices to the twelfth grade in his eyes. With the possible money saved in absence of grade twelve, there seems to be no issue with Kirn’s opinion. However, as a senior myself, I believe that Walter Kirn has not considered some important aspects of senior year that are more valuable than people realize.
Students should be required to get a diploma or a GED because of better job opportunities, go to college, and have a job that has higher wages. So, students that are still in high school it would be best if you stayed in school and get your high school
In addition to gaining a great deal of creditability from doing the Senior Project, or also referred to as the Culminating Project, students also gain something even more valuable than praise from accomplishing an obscure assignment, a diploma. Yes, the Senior Project, of all things, is required to graduate high school, it’s no wonder seniors get senioritis, and desire to extract as soon as possible. Now, these aren’t all the exact reasons as to why it is required of by each individual, because there are many reasons as to why it is necessary and how it will be more beneficial than tedious, at least to some people, namely school boards or any other administrators of education. Their motives are so that the student may further prepare himself or herself for college or careers. This opinion may be true, that it indeed does prepare some students for their futures, but that doesn’t guarantee that it will prepare all students for what will come after high school. All it can provide is the basics that administrators find essential. Sure the topic is open as to what can be chosen to present on, but within that freedom are regulations.
First of all, many high school graduates cannot handle college. Isabel V. Sawhill and Stephanie Owen describe college as a place, “one can obtain a traditional four-year bachelor’s degree”. The work load outside of the classroom could be compared to working a full time job. For example, if a student is enrolled in four college courses and is in class a minimum of four hours the student should spend at least four to six hours of studying. This may be extremely agitating and stressful to a student that is not good at studying. The new college student may realize that the schoolwork is too much for him to handle and instead drop out. In Pharinet’s blog post, Is College for Everyone? He states that “…it is estimated that in the U.S., approximately 50% of students who begin college never graduate. There exist students who are not yet ready for the academic and financial challenges of college. There exist students who do not have the desire for college or learning.” This statement is important because if 50% of students that begin college never gradua...
The purpose of a high school education is to prepare one for college and ultimately, the workforce. By the end of freshman year, in high school, the average student has learned a sufficient amount of material in enough subjects that he or she can be considered "well-rounded" in his or her studies. This is because the rate at which material is covered in schools, across the nation, has increased dramatically compared to the past. Students now learn more advanced curriculum at a younger age, and this continues to become more evident year after year. High school has now become more focused on teaching students a small amount of information on several essential subjects, rather than having them focus deeply on the subjects they seek to pursue in their career.
Within recent decades, college has become a more easily available path than it has been for the past generations. In a current news release, The Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that, “Of the 2.9 million youth age 16 to 24 who graduated from high school between January and October 2014, about 68.4 percent were enrolled in college in October” (BLS Economic News Release from April 2015). When a student graduates high school, most of them intend to continue on to college. They have the idea that, while there, they can break away from all the general classes and just focus on what they want to learn. However, for almost all students, they find that this is not the reality. Just like high school, they find that they have to take approximately two years in general studies in order to attend and graduate with the major of their choice. General education classes should not be required because a majority of the information learned has already been covered in past years. Most of the courses do not benefit a student 's major, and the total amount of required hours for these classes can become a big waste of time and money.
What makes a good person good? According to WikiHow, "We should learn to define our own morals ourselves. One of the simplest ways to do so is to love others, and treat them as you would like to be treated. Try to think of others before yourself. Even doing small things daily will greatly enrich and improve your life, and the lives of others around you." This quote shows us what we need to do in order to be what society thinks as, “good". In order to be a good person, you have to do good and moral things in your society consistently. However people might think that by doing one good thing once in a while will automatically make you a “good person”, but in reality it doesn’t.
...chool graduate each year. Raising the dropout age will decrease the number of problems for students after high school. Relationships with friends, family, and significant others of dropouts may suffer because of the lack of education.
Getting freedom from the schools is an important thing for those students that prove they have the responsibly and mindset to not mess up outside. Getting the chance to prove yourself to the school and to your teachers about your responsibility. In general students should have more freedom and chance their senior year to be able to leave and come back if needed since most senior are ahead in credits and need study halls and