For thirteen years of my life, I have attended school. I have been taught everything from
adding, subtracting, how to read and write, grammar, how to find x, to knowing the date
of a certain historical event and what the powerhouse of the cell is. While some of this
is useful in real life, most of it will not be used again. In school, we don’t learn how to
pay taxes, write a check, or buy a house and car due to how technology is taking over how we learn everything inside and out of school.
Most high school students do not know how to change a tire, cook, care for a kid, file
for insurance, to build credit, or how to budget their money,
including myself. This raises a large issue, since in a couple of years we will be living on
our own and experiencing this all with no guidance. Even though we have a lot of technology today like Google and Youtube to help us with this, we should all have some
idea of how to do it.
As a part of Gen-Z, we have no idea how to do the traditional skills necessary to become a self-sufficient adult. Our generation is the most tech-savvy, and rely on technology for everything, especially since every answer can be found on the internet. Most schools are even starting to give out chromebooks to fifth graders for school. This means teachers are now starting to teach more digitally, which results in a child’s whole life being switched technologically. A study from Cornell University has shown that students can
retain the information better if no technology is being used.
However, seniors are given a period during the school day put on by Redwood Credit Union to learn some of the skills we will need in the future. Most seniors have said it makes them realize what they will have to purchase in the future, but is exaggerated and too short. A solution for this could be to add a class in place of College and Career Readiness to teach everything we will need in a couple of years. It would be similar to the College and Career Readiness course but more in depth and shorter with additional life skills presented to us. The curriculum could include a part of College and Career Readiness, but also include instruction on self- defense, taxes, insurance, cooking, finding a job, credit cards, first aid, and how to budget money.
How are we supposed to be more independent if the skills that we need are not being 
taught to us?