School is designed to educate and prepare children for their adult lives. Students spend most of their time at school, completing work for classes, and gaining a variety of knowledge. While the students are learning information, many consider it to have little practicality in today’s society. It is hard to say whether the content within the curriculum adequately prepares children for the future.

Although new concepts learned every day in school, important lessons are often omitted. Once students begin their lives after they finish their school years, many of the mandatory courses in high school become irrelevant. Classes structured around life outside of school are primarily offered as electives. For example, finance and medical are electives, while history is mandatory. Scenarios like these raise issues regarding inclusivity, as students who need to take intensive courses for English and Maths are denied the ability to take vital electives like these. As a result, once these students leave the education system, they are left at a disadvantage in comparison to the others due to their inability to have taken these crucial electives.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one in four people will struggle with their mental health, and students are not taught how to deal with it, or how to provide help to their friends who are struggling with their health. Most students feel overwhelmed by their workload, and as a result, are penalized for forgetting assignments, yet they are never taught how to handle stress, anxiety, or proper time management.

Also, the extent to which students understand the concepts of the lessons is frequently overlooked by teachers. The main cause of this is the focus on standardized testing. Students must focus on merely memorizing the content rather than garner the information from each course. This method of education is unfair in certain ways. The overall importance of each child’s performance is undermined by the standardized tests after completion of the content. A student may perform well in class, earning A’s and B’s throughout the year. However, they may perform poorly on the standardized test, causing their final scores will not truly represent their understanding of the content.

The current American education system operates under outdated methods of teaching which for many, are ineffective for modern learning. Society is constantly evolving with many new and innovative technological advancements. Even though these changes to society are increasing in prominence, many school boards refuse to update their methods and reject the use of modern technology in lessons. Unfortunately, the issues of prioritizing memorization, overlooking mental health, and expecting perfect performance by using outdated methods create an ineffective curriculum.