Education, in many countries, is mandatory for children under the age of 18. This is generally up to high school. Having spent most of your youth in school, there are still some people that say that your free time should consist of even more educational activities. But why?
They believe that people should develop themselves outside of school because school does not prepare you to harsh life conditions, and having extra qualities can get you far ahead of other people when applying for universities. However, doing educational activities outside of school hours should not be mandatory for students.
This is because the ones that will achieve great things already do great things by themselves. Instead of sitting there and just solving thousands of questions, which can be a waste of time if you want to get into a top of the line university, they create new stuff because that’s the main thing that the top colleges are looking for. Creativity is much more valuable than the ability to follow orders, which most of the current education systems all around the world focus on. On top of that, having the inner motivation to do so is the main thing that propels you when applying to colleges. I have always said that if a person has the capability to achieve great things, they will achieve said things without any external motivation or help. If someone does not have good grades, is lazy, doesn’t study, there is no point in trying to make that person study and become better at anything because all your work will be for nothing if that person does not want said success themselves.
In conclusion, i believe that we should not force students to do extra activities beyond school work because forcing anything on anybody will usually result negatively.
