Extra credit, retakes, and corrections. With all these helping hands it seems impossible for students not to prosper. In fact, studies show that students themselves are finding school too easy. Students are unlearning the act of learning – knowledge is a commodity few high school students can barter in and education is severely underappreciated. And yet, it is possible to pass for most. In reality, passing high school is not the problem. The difficulties start once students leave these (relatively) safe walls, and make their way into the world. It doesn’t matter what students decide to do with their lives, retaining information is a necessary skill and the knowledge we gain in high school is meant to help us throughout life.

   The first major problem for students is never truly learning how to study. For many students, the adjustment from high school to college is hard enough to survive without the added difficulties of not knowing how to study. Many students who flourished in high school struggle once they go to college – and it’s not because they lost IQ points. Students are used to having it easy and it shows. A recent study by Philip Babcock and Mindy Marks showed that students in 1961 studied about 24 hours a week, while the current college student spends a mere 14 hours on studying. Schools today are preparing students in a new way, and it’s not necessarily better.

   College is a coming-of-age experience for many. The freedom from parents and their constrictions is one of the most celebrated aspects for college students. College, however, offers more freedom than that – gone are the days of spoon-fed notes and teacher-parent conferences. The time of gliding through school is done – and many students don’t know how to handle it. The knowledge they gained in high school has long been wiped out by the end of summer. Most students may remember some facts that have particularly interested them, but for the most part, students enter college with a relatively clean slate. So is school the problem or are students?

   The purpose of school is to prepare children (and eventually teenagers) for life. But by teaching them that they can slide by – after all, what are retakes for? –  they aren’t being taught the value of hard work, and a rude awakening lies in wait for them. Once students enter the workforce (whether that be after high school or college) things are completely different and if they didn’t gain a good work ethic as students, it will be hard to adjust. Their performance will no longer simply demonstrate itself in grades – suddenly the effort they exert will directly influence their bread and butter.  

   In real life, things are much different. Instead of a teacher, you have a boss. The two do not translate directly. A boss will not offer second chances, special favours, or extra credit. One strike and you’re out. For many students, this will be a revolutionary idea. Besides the obvious adjustments like longer hours and self-sufficiency, students have to deal with a whole new environment.

   High school is meant to give vital information to soon-to-be adults. Mathematics, English, Social Studies, and even electives all offer important information that would help someone become a functioning member of society. For 12 years, parent entrust their children to teachers, for them to educate and inform their children and prepare them for real life. However, how prepared are students truly?

   Excluding the basics, many adults have forgotten the majority of what they’ve been taught in school. Information isn’t sticking, and although many have found a way to be successful, there is a certain tragedy in the fact that all that information is lost. Some students are graduating with a lack of self-sufficiency and independence, and life outsides school will be a hard adjustment.

   Many argue that school is adequate and that most people don’t rely on what they studied in high school to be successful. The problem, however, is not only the content (or lack thereof), but also the overall values and ethics taught to students. When students are taught that everything is at their fingertips, they start to have certain expectations of life. And therein lies the problem. Life owes us nothing, and schools sometimes have a hard time demonstrating this to inexperienced students.

   The school system is doing it’s best to prepare students for life. However, sometimes it makes the process too easy. It is important for students to realise that in real life, there are no do-overs or second chances. It is important to realise that after high school, things will only get harder. This is not a bad thing – as our environment evolves, so do we. It pays to remember that although passing in life may be easy, prospering will require a bit more effort. But it is possible, with just a little more sweat and tears. Students simply have to stop relying on the school system to give them an easy way out and grab all the opportunities presented to them.