Graduation Requirements

Graduation requirements are getting stricter and stricter allowing students less space for electives in their schedules. These requirements are mostly expanding areas like Science, Math, History, and Business. These areas are very beneficial, but what if you are a really good creative writer? Or actress? Or photographer? In college admissions an elective in fields like science is regarded as more impressive than an elective in the fine arts. The requirement’s and college admission’s preferences disadvantage specific types of interests. This gives students incentive to pursue classes and interests that reflect well for college admissions and complete their graduation requirements even if they could be a great singer or dancer or oboe player.

Students should be able to take any class they want. They shouldn’t be tied down to requirements in certain subjects. Classes should be put on a scale of difficulty and students should be required to take a certain number of classes in each difficulty section to make sure students are not only taking “easy-A” classes. This would allow students to pursue their interests while still taking classes of a certain difficulty. If a student wants to take advanced animal science instead of advanced literature analysis then why should you have to forego a class that you really want to take because of graduation requirements? If you know you want to be veterinarian then why should you be forced to take a literature analysis class when taking an animal science class of the same difficulty could advance someone further in their future? Isn’t that what school is about? To educate students on topics that they interested in.

Students have a general knowledge of all topics by high school so why can’t high school students take classes that they are really interested in as long as students are still completing the same difficulty of classwork. By the time of high school students are figuring out what they want to do with their life and more of the classes in subject they think they are interested in would significantly help students choose the right career. If students were allowed to choose the subjects they studied, more students would also do their homework and be excited to come to class every day. Students should be able to seize the day and take the classes they want, not classes that they know they will be bored in just to fulfill graduation requirements.