Why Do We Learn Stuff We Will Never Use?

photo courtesy of Google

Written By: Bailee Withers

From the ages of five to eighteen, youth all over the world are required to attend school. Every day, typically for 6-8 hours per day, we all go to school and learn all sorts of things in the subjects of math, science, English and more. This makes me wonder if we are using that time effectively. Why should we waste our time on stuff we will never need to know? Shouldn't we learn how to use a bank account, or pay bills, or buy a house? 

Let’s look at a few examples. First, there's science class. It's  interesting to learn about, but when in our life are we going to need to know how thick each layer of the earth is? Then, there's English class. Of course we need to  have good writing skills, but will our job ever depend on if we can properly identify a direct object in a sentence? Unless we are going to become an English teacher, probably not. In math class, we learn many things that we will never use in real life. Do we need basic math facts? Sure! Do we need to know how to graph something in slope-intercept form? I think you see my point.

The website Philadelphia.cbslocal.com states, “A new survey says the average American uses just 37 percent of the information they learn in school.” This shows that there are many classes that we are never going to remember or use. 

So how should we fix things? School classes should teach us things we need to know for life. Though the class may still be boring, we will at least know what to do when we have to pay bills. Most students probably don’t know how to set up a bank account until high school or even college. Mrs. Rhodes, an English teacher at MJH told us that when she managed student housing for BYUI, she was shocked at how many college students didn't even know how to pay their own bills. They had to rely on their parents to do it each month.

Imagine if money management was the type of thing we learned in math class instead of how to find the sine, cosine, and tangent of a triangle! Deseret.com says, “Approximately 24 percent of teens incorrectly think that using a debit card is borrowing the bank's money instead of using their own.” So why not change some classes to learning about things we as adults will need to know?

Although we need to learn the basics in math, I feel that by changing up topics we discuss in math and other subjects we all will benefit. Therefore maybe schools should eventually change up their classes, but for now enjoy your algebra class!