Should we have high school graduation requirements? I conducted a poll asking students whether they think graduation requirements should be mandatory or not. Those who I interviewed want to remain anonymous. Here are the answers students came up with:
Yes: 
1. “There should be graduation requirements because not everyone has a mindset of their own. Everyone doesn’t know what they want to do future wise. Giving requirements puts more pressure on the students.”
2. “There should be graduation requirements because there wouldn’t be any adequate graduation rates if everyone graduated just because. Also if graduation requirements were changed or dropped, then the rate of high school dropouts would also increase because they don’t know what class to take or what to do. ”
No’s 
1. “There shouldn’t be a graduation requirement because students would be lazy. Students can take electives their entire high school career and still graduate. These classes would not benefit them future wise. Having requirements makes sure that all students leave high school with a basic education and are somewhat career ready.”
2. “There should not be graduation requirements because people already know what they want to do with their lives. Students will take a lot of unnecessary classes that won’t be used in their career field if they already have planned out their career path. Also classes that students aren’t interested in, they tend to not pay attention which will lead to lower grades. ”
3. “Putting pressure on students forces them into doing something they will later regret in the future”