“When am I ever going to use this in the real world?” This is a question that just about every student have asked themselves. Is it a fair question?

School is meant to prepare students for the future and give them skills they need in order to thrive in everyday life. However Smoky Hill High School, Senior, Joshua Heckard thinks there’s more that could be done to prepare the youth of America.

“Maybe the process of the work , but not the work itself has been taught to us. You’re not going to need logs or anything like that to be an accountant it’s just basic subtraction and division, all that kind of stuff. We should be learning how to file taxes and maybe balance a checkbook. I know those are optional and can be learned in accounting and finance, but I think is should be mandatory along with economics and those kind of things,” said Heckard.

However another Smoky Hill senior, Filberth De La Croix seems to disagree saying, “I feel like school has prepared me pretty well. They have given me the skill to open up more and be better at talking to people. I feel like I am prepared for my future and that Smoky has given me the skills I need,” said De La Croix.

Another student also agrees with Filberth De La Croix. Smoky Hill student, Ethan Grady says, “I feel that school has done a really good job of preparing me for the future even though there are some things that could be taught. We aren’t taught how to to taxes in all classes but we know the basic math around it.”

However Joshua Heckard is not alone in finding that school lacks preparation. There have been studies around the world that ask students if they feel that school has prepared them. Youth Truth, a non profit company, found that out of “165,000 high school students an overwhelming 87 percent, want to eventually earn a college degree and land a career, but feel that their schools aren’t helping them develop skills they’ll need after graduation.”

Has high school successfully been preparing students? Only time will tell.