Any high school student can recite to you the Pythagorean Theorem, or the quadratic equation. But why? Why does every student need to know this, and when are they going to use it in their adult years? We have a problem, and it is affecting nearly every teenage life in our country. Being that the teenage generation is the next to take the reins in this country, it is imminent that this problem is fixed.

Do you remember sitting in math class, as your teacher rambled on about polynomials, or matrices, or any other confusing concept involving a mixture of letters and numbers, and thinking to yourself, “This is useless. When am I ever going to use this again?” If you can relate to this scenario, funny enough, you were right. The curriculum in high school math is not directly applicable to the real world, with the exception of a few very specialized jobs. Fewer than 20% of all jobs require even the curriculum from basic Algebra, with the number dipping to under 10% for advanced algebra (The Atlantic). When you look at the data, the lessons students are learning in advanced math classes, such as calculus, geometry, or algebra is not useful to the students beyond high school.

This is not to say that all math learned is not useful to students. In fact it is essential to know how to perform basic arithmetic, such as adding and subtracting, and even advanced arithmetic, such as fractions and decimals, with about 75% of jobs needing these skills. However all of these skills are taught in elementary, and middle school before moving the advanced topics taught in high school.

The education system is based on the opinions of educators, parents, and students. It is important that all three believe that that the time and effort they put in will yield an overall reward in the end. This is especially true for students; because when students believe that the lessons they are learning are valuable they are more motivated to put in the effort to fully grasp the concept, thus yielding a higher chance of the students comprehending the lesson. Unfortunately students do not have that confidence in the curriculum they are required to learn. In a survey I ran at my high school, where I asked 300 random students of whom I had never met the question, “Do you think that what you are learning in math is applicable outside of high school?”, 245 students, or 81% of them said no. For added analysis I recorded what class each student was in, and found out that in Geometry, Pre-Calculus, and Statistics, over 90% of the students felt that what they were learning was not useful, and in Algebra 2, and Calculus over 80% of students felt that the curriculum was pointless (John Schultz). This is obviously alarming that students have such low confidence in the education system, because will low belief comes low motivation.
In the past couple years the United States rankings in world education have fallen in world education rankings in math, and one theory could be is that students simply are not motivated to put in the effort to learn, because they don’t believe their time, and effort is warrants the benefits of the new knowledge. In a 2015 study by the BBC, the United States tied for 28th in the world in math and science (BBC), which is a terrible result when it is considered that the United States spends more money per student on education than any other country in the world (CBS). Clearly, something isn’t working with the current plan if the American students are placing so low. Simply put, students will need to be motivated by the lessons they’re learning, because without having inspired students, it will be nearly impossible to improve the United States world ranking in math and science.

With so much going against the current curriculum it leads one to question why changes have not been made. Instead of being stuck in the past and sticking to tradition, we need to modernize and make a change. Do the math America, it’s not working.

Why are we forcing 100% of students to learn what only a small amount of will need to know? Instead of forcing students to learn math subjects that under 15% of jobs require, alternatives need to be made available with curriculum on lessons will be needed by a higher percentage of the population. Lessons such as, what a mortgage is, or how to buy and sell stocks, even how to pay taxes. Whatever it is, the skills should be things that everyday Americans experience. This change would bring about numerous positive changes that would be easily recognizable.

Instead of teaching pointless lessons, a student can use that time to learn skills they will need in everyday life. By having confidence in this, the student will thus be more motivated to learn it, and therefore be more willing to learn it. With higher motivated students, come better test scores and better world rankings. By sticking with tradition, students will only continue to grow further unmotivated, and uninterested, thus triggering the further plummet in world rankings. Change is necessary.

As a 17-year-old high school junior I can honestly say, I am not ready to live on my own. I don’t have the slightest idea on how to balance a checkbook, or how the stock market works, how interest rates work, etc. I am not unique either. Very few people from my generation have even a basic knowledge on any of the topics I named. Being that it is the school’s job to educate us, why are they omitting such necessary skills from our curriculum, yet including many extraneous topics such as advanced math in high school? Thankfully, I am a junior in high school, and there is still time for me to learn these essential lessons. However, not everyone is that lucky, and many students are graduating and being sent out into the real world where they are expected to know these things, however have never had even a remote lesson on it. As a result many struggle financially, and go into debt and find it difficult to pay it off. This debt hurts the United States economy, along with other negative effects. By teaching these lessons in high school, in the place of extra advanced math, young adults will be better prepared to go into the real world,  and be able to take care of themselves better. It is time that America finally starts properly preparing their children, for what they will actually have to face past the sheltered, and unpractical environment of high school.
It simply does not add up. No matter how you divide it, there is only one solution to the problem. We need to subtract the extraneous high school math, and add more practical everyday lessons, in order to grow our students knowledge exponentially. Because when you really do the math, it’s not working.