Some people believe that teenagers should study all school subjects while others claim that they should focus on the subjects they are best at or that they are interested in. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

In this essay I shall explain why I think that teenagers should study the subjects that they are interested in rather than studying all the subjects that a school offers. I think that it is a good idea for teenagers to study a range of subjects. When they are younger, they can do this quite easily because the depth of knowledge is not that great. This is enough to give them a basic overview of the different subjects. However, when they become teenagers, the subject matter becomes more detailed and therefore I think that they need to spend more time on each subject. This means that studying all the subjects on offer is not realistic. If teenagers are free to choose their own subjects, they are likely to choose the ones they enjoy. These, in turn, are probably going to be the subjects that they are best at. This means that teenagers, many of whom think of school as boring and a waste of time, are more likely to stick with their studies and become better qualified and educated. This obviously has a positive impact on society and the economy in general. There are arguments against this. Many people argue that teenagers are not ready to make important decisions about which subjects to study at school. I admit that this may be true in some cases, but the often unasked question is ‘Who is able to make such decisions? ’ Some parents think that they know, but in a fast changing society this seems unlikely to me. Governments have notably bad records at predicting the future, so I wouldn’t trust them to choose what teenagers should study either. Of course, there is nothing to prevent school, parents and even the government providing information and counselling to teenagers, perhaps regarding which jobs offer good pay or which sectors of the economy are likely to need workers. However, I think that it might be a good idea to trust teenagers and let them make the final decision. In conclusion, I think it is best to leave the decision about which subjects to study to teenagers, though it might be a good idea for others to provide them with information regarding their options.