Have you ever taken a test and a week later forgotten how to do everything on that test? That’s because as a student, I am taught one lesson for a test and never have to think about it again. We need to stop teaching just for some test; we need to add onto the things we were previously taught, and we need to teach students the skills they will need for life out of high school.
Having recently taken the SAT, which is all the basic things you need to have learned for college and use in the real world, there were things on there that I haven’t been taught since elementary school. And when I was taught them, they were nowhere near this level of difficulty. For example, there is a statement we have to write in cursive, and over 50 percent of the people in my class didn’t know how to, since we no longer are required to write in cursive. Although I was one of the few who still remembered how to write in cursive, it doesn’t make sense that most of the students didn’t know or remember how to write in it.
Also, I haven’t been taught grammar since I was in third grade. Of course I’ve been taught to speak with correct grammar, but noticing it and identifying it on paper is a lot different. Grammar is something everyone needs in life, whether you are e-mailing your boss, writing a speech or writing to customers. No matter what someone wants to do with their life, they will need to know proper grammar.
Some people may say that we will need the things we are being taught later in life. This may be true, but the things that we aren’t being taught are the things that we will really need to succeed. We are always told that we need to be prepared for the real world, but how are we supposed to know what the real world is like if we aren’t exposed to it or taught about it? There are kids who go from being one of the best students in high school to being one of the worst in college because they don’t know how to set their priorities and stay away from the bad influences.
Things in our school system need to make some significant changes if we want our students to not only succeed, but thrive in the real world. We need to start preparing the students for life outside of school instead of teaching them things for one test and they won’t have to remember a week later.
Chad Bonincontri, The Acreage
Editors note: Mr. Bonincontri is a junior at Seminole Ridge High School.
