VOL. XV, NO. 3

Do high schools today serve merely as an aging vat? This question was posed in an article in a recent issue of The National Observer.

Many prominent educators contend that youth today are held at a dependent status much longer than preceding generations; and when we finally do enter the mainstream of every day life, many of us are ill-equipped to deal with its pressures, bringing about what might be termed the "don't bother me - I can't cope" syndrome of today.

Some educators who have studied this problem believe the solution lies in work programs such as the one at Maine West which gives students an opportunity to acquire skills and gain work experience, thus, making assimilation easier when society decrees that adolescence is officially over.

The value of the work program is unquestioned. The program gives the non-college bound student a reason for being in school. Yet the mastery of a skill does not insure survival, just as a college education does not.

Either path leads into the same world of what are thought to be insurmountable limitations. The most valuable asset for individuals today seem to be the ability to think independently and know themselves. Some educational systems today are turning out individuals who exhibit herd‑of‑sheep complexes when faced with contemporary challenges and problems.

Could a different educational approach, such as problem solving, help this situation? It's something to think about.