Many high schools have mandatory curriculum requirements such as taking three years of history and three years of math. Though these requirements allow for students to be disciplined in their education, it does not leave much room for student interests to be elevated to their full
potential.
Without completion of mandatory electives and classes, students are faced with the genuine fear of being held back from graduation. When you consider it, taking three years of history class and four years of gym class eliminates seven other academic classes that students could have
experienced through self-selection during their high school journey.
Though basic requirements should be met, there should be other options for those who are passionate about different subjects, and in need of a more developed, confidence boosting education. As someone who has experienced general school requirements, I can elaborate on
the fact that the classes that I have been uninterested in, have led to wasted time and unrewarding outcomes.
It made me consider: what was the point of investing hours and hours of time into something that I was never going to look back to in the future? Think about when you have invested time into friendship for months and how the expenditure of energy that goes into having a stable
relationship with someone is enormous.
When the friendship or relationship doesn’t end up working out, it can be heartbreaking. With that being said, it connects to investing time into classes that end up being a complete waste of time. In the end, students will end up being deprived of time that could’ve been spent on
prioritizing other aspects of education.
Students should not be inclined to take classes that will not prepare them for the future. For example, a student may not have the intellect or interest for pursuing math, but giving different options to choose from from the start would allow for student goals to be amplified.
Taking a statistics class instead of another general math requirement, for example, would give a greater insight into real life situations rather than a student dreading their average math class where they are less likely to thrive and more likely to feel a sense of embarrassment and
confusion without extra guidance and support.
Wootton Common Sense states, “Taking the required courses can put extra stress on students. With no enjoyment of the topic and difficulty understanding, it can be draining trying to comprehend a subject that will not help at all in the real world past high school.” New Jersey
state requirements explain that three years of mathematics are mandatory with a description elaborating upon how “algebra I or the content equivalent is required.”

If the state standards allow for a content equivalent, public schools should allow for credits to encompass a greater variety of classes. Schools should be able to offer classes to fulfill academic requirements that cater towards all student interests rather than giving all students the same approach to their education.

For instance, students in general history courses get caught up in the information they are learning about the 1700 and 1800s, to the point where they are uneducated about what is happening in current times. The public school system, adapting to modern circumstances, allows students to
adopt different life skills and intelligence.