18 kids were right all along Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

18 kids were right all along - Essay Example While he has a point that high school can be boring and repetitive in the final two years, Melcher fails to adequately take into account the possibilities available to students in high school to keep them interested, the problem of maturity level of students and misses perhaps the strongest argument in favor of his position, the school system established in England. Students who have planned their education well are capable of graduating from high school as many as two years earlier than normal now thanks to specialized advanced level classes and limited electives. However, many of these students opt to remain in school longer as a means of further exploring other interests, beginning the difficult process of selecting an appropriate career by discovering interests and ruling out others. Other programs, such as dual credit courses and vocational courses, serve to continue high school students’ interest even further. For those who are bored with school, just a little application enables them to leave earlier as Melcher suggests. Teenagers aged 15 or 16 are notoriously confident of their own maturity level and abilities to their own delusion. In addition, they are provided with a driver’s license and often a vehicle at this age, giving them unprecedented freedom and range. Should they be turned loose on the streets at this point, without even a class to attend, it is difficult to say what they might do. Some very few would undoubtedly continue their education with a view toward their future, but too many, without further guidance or other guidelines put in place, would simply go wild. This is, indeed, a problem among the poorer segments of the urban population in England and elsewhere where school is optional after age 16. Finally, Melcher neglects to mention the strongest argument in favor of his position. England, for example, has a school