Schools should do more to prepare students for the non-academic aspects of adulthood.

In schools, we mostly learn about information that enhances our academic profile. That information often includes the use of grammar in language and the application of mathematics. Although this type of information is critical in our development before becoming an adult, there are other aspects that schools should also focus on in order to prepare students for the non-academic aspects of adulthood. Non-academic aspects include knowledge for the job market, information on how to prepare and deal with governmental documents, and knowledge about insurance. These are inevitable parts of an adult’s life. Therefore, schools should do more to prepare students for the non-academic aspects of adulthood.

First, being adult involves having a job that you can rely on for your own life. Knowledge for the job market is something that schools often miss out. In order to prepare a student for entering the job market in adulthood, the schools should provide adequate knowledge or information for students about jobs and careers. For example, interviewing skill is an important piece of information that would benefit a student when s/he enters the job market. If a student acquires this knowledge, s/he would be better prepared for getting a job when s/he becomes an adult. Another example is that students often have to go to the career center for themselves regarding to the job market. For those who do not think getting a job is important or are not in a hurry of getting a job while studying, they are missing out this important knowledge. Therefore, schools should do something in order to prepare all students for this non-academic aspect of adulthood.

Second, adults usually have citizen responsibilities that include dealing with different governmental documents, unlike students. In normal school settings, students do not learn this type of knowledge. For example, learning how to file tax returns is an essential knowledge in the United States. Although it is something that all citizens should do, it is surprising that this knowledge is not provided in schools. In order to acquire this knowledge, students have to discover themselves through surfing on the Internet or asking their parents. If the schools can provide knowledge about this particular non-academic aspect, students would definitely benefit from it.

Third, insurance is a significant part of everyone’s life, but no schools are preparing this information for student. The society encourages adults to have insurance for themselves, and also demands adults to buy insurance for their kids. However, for nearly everyone, having a lack of knowledge in insurance is prevalent. This is one of the most important non-academic aspects of adulthood. For example, there are adults that do not buy insurance until accidents happen. Often times, it is too late to compensate for the loss they have suffered. Car insurance is another example. Most people do not care about car insurance until they get a car. Nevertheless, most people in the United States own a car. If schools can provide this type of knowledge beforehand, students can surely be better prepared. Having knowledge about insurance can better prepare students when they run into these situations as an adult.

Although knowledge that is currently provided in schools is critical in our development before becoming an adult, there are other aspects that schools should also focus on in order to prepare students for the non-academic aspects of adulthood. Some important non-academic aspects of adulthood include knowledge for the job market, information on how to prepare and deal with governmental documents, and knowledge about insurance. Because every student would eventually encounter these problems when they turn into an adult, schools should do something that prepare students for adulthood.