High School Diploma Careers: Fill & Download for Free

We already did that.What we now refer to as “high school” was once college. Prior to the turn of the century, grade school took you through eighth grade, and that was it — any education you sought to pursue after that was at your own expense.Around 1892, the public sentiment started to shift toward making private institutions of higher learning accessible to all. Demands for free college, paid for through tax dollars, became common and in the decades that followed, state-funded high schools started to emerge. They were optional, and most required passing an entrance exam in order to attend.By 1955, voluntary attendance rates had grown to 80%, and by 1965, the federal government got into the game and passed legislation to provide funding for them, eliminating the entrance exam requirement and ensuring equal access.This was essentially our first foray into offering “free college”.What happened afterward was that the academic elite created even more programs for higher education, extending beyond what was offered in publicly-funded high schools. The goal was to elevate themselves and their graduates above everyone else who was “just” getting the public high school diploma. And it worked. Over time, a high school diploma — which was once on par with a degree from a private college — evolved to carry very little market value.It’s pretty easy to understand why; the more you have of something, the less it’s worth. When diplomas were rare, they were valuable. But when “everyone” had a diploma, it simply wasn’t worth as much in the marketplace.Making college free will have the exact same effect this time as it had last time. When “everyone” has a degree, a college degree will carry as much weight as a high school diploma carries now. To compensate for this, private academic institutions will emerge, just like they did after high schools became public, and only degrees from those colleges will carry value in the job market.When that happens, every young adult will have spent eight years in grade school, four years in high school, four years in college, and still won’t have any credentials worthy enough of getting them the good jobs, unless they choose to pay for even more private education after all that.Free college is a bad idea. The end result is a further dumbing-down of our educational system and delays the starting point of young adults’ career paths, all while simultaneously making the degrees they’re working for worth less than the paper they’re printed on. It creates more problems than it solves.

The world is harsh to people without a high school diploma. It will limit your choices in life and be a major obstacle if you decide you want to change careers. You’re 18—that means you are almost done! Suck it up and finish, as an investment in your future, not to mention keeping a roof over your head.Don’t start your adult life off being a quitter.

Stop handing out high school diplomas like candy.Seriously. The only reason why the demand for college has gone up is because high school diplomas don't mean anything anymore. They don't mean anything because we hand them out to anyone willing to stick it out until they are 18 in the educational system and the faculty doesn't want to deal with them anymore. Not so long ago, when diplomas meant something, they weren't dealt with in this way.I graduated from high school a little over four years ago, and I distinctly remember being told constantly, “Congratulations! That's such an accomplishment!” or, “Good work! Way to stick it out!” Honestly, I internally rolled my eyes. It takes close to no effort to graduate from High School. It takes close to no knowledge or education to do so either. I knew several kids who walked out with diplomas and couldn't read at the fourth grade level. I knew several kids who walked out with diplomas and couldn't even begin to do algebra or geometry. I knew several kids who walked out with diplomas who likely couldn't tell you if the Civil War or WWII came first in American History.There are many reasons why these kids are allowed to walk and graduate school, despite not deserving it at all. Here are a few of the reasons why:Government witholding educational funding from districts that do not meet certain quotas. The government cracking down on the schools for not giving out enough diplomas. This was all founded on the idea of giving everyone “opportunity” in life, and is the same idea that plagues our current educational system that everyone ought to go to college despite many of the students really not being smart enough to succeed there and honestly not needing it to find success in a profession or career.Administration forcing teachers to either pass students or make their subject material easier. Teachers are expected to have all of their students understand the class material and be able to pass their class, regardless of whether the student pays attention, does their work, or even bothers to show up to class at all. Since Administration puts so much pressure on the teachers, they have to basically bend over backwards for the students who honestly don't deserve to pass their classes whatsoever.Teachers not wanting to deal with undisciplined students. A lot of the kids who aren't passing their classes are incredibly disrespectful, distracting, and basically are to the learning environment what a floating turd is to the punch bowl at a party. They just don't belong there, and I'm sure that teachers are sick of putting up with it, and thus we have issues of teachers passing kids that they don't want to have in their class again.So, back to the original question. College prices would go down if there was less demand for it. There would be less demand for college if high school diplomas held even a shred of respect in America's workforce. High school diplomas would hold more respect if the idiot who skipped class every day, was disrespectful and hostile to teachers and the learning environment, and doesn't know how to read, do math, or basically any other basic skill taught in our educational system wasn't allowed to graduate and was booted from the school for his/her performance.The high school diploma doesn't offer that kind of student many more opportunities today than if they didn't have it at all, and them having it actually hurts the resumes of every other student who actually tried and did their work. School should be something you have to work for in order to complete, and if you don't work or even show up, then you shouldn't be given a free pass.