Education: Wasteful school days gone soon enough

Re: “High school seems like waste of time,” (TNT letter, 11/25).

I read the letter with empathy, thinking back to some of the things we were forced to memorize (geometric theorems come to mind). I think the high schools could do better teaching life skills for our young people. I applaud the movement toward combining technical college and high school education for students inclined toward the trades.

The practical things suggested by the letter writer as possible subjects of study make perfect sense, as would a class on childhood development, since most of us eventually become parents with varying degrees of preparation for that most important “job.”

But there is a universal lesson we learn from school: to be where we are supposed to be, when we are supposed to be there, doing what needs to be done, whether we feel like doing it or not. That’s what adults in a working world must do. So my advice to all young scholars is this: Lap up the self-discipline you are learning that is preparing you to succeed in life.

You are a short-time student, a very long-time adult. Grin and bear it. You will be “free” soon enough.

This story was originally published December 5, 2016 at 4:59 PM with the headline "Education: Wasteful school days gone soon enough."