Does Education Prepare Us for Life? Essay Example

From birth, a child is taught to live according to the values of their parents or guardian. They are not given the freedom to choose what they want in life, maybe because they are not old enough to make such decisions. However, as life goes on, they are still taught to live by other people's values and standards. For example, they have to work as per the standards set by their parents, as per the values instilled by their church, the norms of the society, the actions of their peers, etc. Therefore, at no point in life do they get to live their own life, rather, the life that the society wants them to live. Schools are expected to prepare them for the future life and help them tackle challenges that may come about, however, considering that the school does not teach them to become independent beings, but to live by the standards they set, I do not think that schools help to prepare students for life.

The average scenario for the majority of students in the country (if not the world) is that they tend to work hard just enough to get by rather than retain the information given. For example, the common scenario is that a person will just cram for the sake of the exam to get by high school and college and neither of them is prepared for life. The schooling system rarely provides a situation where a student can apply what they learn in class, for instance, simulations or internships, therefore, even in the job market, the students are not prepared, and neither are they prepared in life (Harte par2-6).

Schooling, in the present day, does not prepare students for their careers and life afterward. Instead, the schools treat graduation as the ends (Moser). Schools should instead help students access a cohesive curriculum that helps align their coursework with future goals. For most of the students, and school systems, the students are only enhanced with a means to accrue different credits which may be meaningless if they cannot be used by the student to achieve a certain goal and objective in the future (Moser). In fact, one of the studies notes that the students only rack up the credits with the intention of reaching the finish line by meandering through disconnected courses that are not of any help other than graduation. Instead of over-prioritizing graduation, schools should instead focus on giving the students the knowledge and skills that they may require for them to succeed in life.

In an article in the Forbes, it is clear that school only teaches us knowledge yet the world and life needs wisdom. Instead of equipping students with critical life skills that apply in everyday life like negotiating and managing money, most of the students are taught to memorize information (Duffy). Parents are left with the task of teaching life skills, yet they are less qualified to offer such indispensable skills. In addition, people may be misled into believing that school is the safest way to a great career, however, over the last decade or so, the value of degrees and diplomas has diminished significantly (Duffy). Employees are in pursuit of candidates that can accomplish tasks, which makes schooling less significant in preparation for life which does not help one accomplish such a task

Though schooling has failed in the preparation of students for the future, it has also succeeded in preparing them in other aspects. For example, it gives students a sense of responsibility and gets us ready for some of the inherent limits in the world, for example, time and pressure on us. It also equips the students the social skills and knowledge that is indispensable in dealing with some stressful situations. In other cases, the school may give students perfect reference letters that may go a long way in helping them move to the next stage in life

Though education and schooling, in general, is not satisfactory by any means, we cannot do away with it. Instead, different stakeholders including the students, parents, teachers and respective organizations should look for a way to make it sufficient. That is, improve some of its weaknesses to make it more effective in people's life.

Work cited

Duffy Eric. Does College Prepare Students for the Real World? Forbes. 2017. Available at < https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2017/09/09/does-college-prepare-students-for-the-real-world/#20c7c6ac42df >

Harte Oliver. Does High School Curriculum in the U.S. Actually, Prepare Students for the Real World? 2013. Available://www.huffingtonpost.com/oliver-harte/does-the-high-school-curr_b_2602259.html>

Moser, Laura. Were Graduating More Students than Ever, but are they Prepared for Life After High School? 2016. http://www.slate.com/blogs/schooled/2016/04/05/high_school_students_aren_t_prepared_for_college_and_careers_says_education.html. 2016.