Many high school graduates go out into the world feeling unprepared and unknowledgeable about essential life skills. Some say this is a failure of the school, others think it is a a parental failure. 

I believe that life skills should be taught in schools to help prepare students for the obstacles they will inevitably face as independent adults. Classes like financial literacy teach students how to be smart with their money and reduce the common problems that happen when a young adult is uneducated on these topics, such as accumulating large amounts of debt that’ll follow them. 

Although life skills should be taught in the home, there is never a guarantee that it will happen. If schools involve themselves in this responsibility, they can help their student feel confident as they go into the world with well-developed skills. Students should be able to communicate effectively, manage their money, and navigate the world before they enter a climate where knowing this is their only chance to succeed. 

Students should also be introduced to these skills at school since that is where most of their time is spent. There is also no guarantee that the adults in their lives were taught these skills and can teach them. 

As a student myself, I learned a lot from taking the financial literacy course at BVHS, but I still feel underprepared for the upcoming challenges adulthood will bring. 

Learning life skills in school will give students the knowledge and confidence they need to be successful adults and not make the damaging mistakes of the previous generations.