According to Business Insider, Independent, and Edudemic, the United States does not place in the top best school systems in the world. This doesn’t really come as a surprise for most. In the U.S., schools haven’t improved to somewhere each student can learn in a way that will help advance their education level. However, those statements don’t apply in Finland.

The dropout rate in America is 25 percent, but in Finland, it’s less than 1 percent. Perhaps this may be because Finland encourages students to work together and to be cooperative, rather than competitive.                  

Students in America often feel compelled to drop out or give up because of standardized testing. Comparing a student to their peers can make them feel low about themselves, and they won’t feel like they are good enough. Finland requires only one standardized test at the age of 16. How stress-relieving would it be for us Americans to only have one test?

“I feel I’m not as smart,” senior Jose Portillo said. “I think I’m not good enough [when] compared to others, and I feel so pressured.”

Another reason why Finland is winning when it comes to the school system is because college is free! Free college for young Americans may sound absurd, but to Finnish people, it’s common practice. Europe has a significant high rate of taxes, which is what pays for their college. Though high taxes is something that Americans don’t yearn for, free college is something that the 40 million americans who are in debt want.

“I believe the idea of ‘free’ college is a goal every country should work towards,” English teacher Shana Thompson said. “In America, we are encouraged to attend a college/university from the moment we step foot into grade school in order to enter into a successful career. What we are not told is the decades it will take to pay off that prestigious piece of paper from that respective college or university.”

America should focus on the bigger picture: the future. Our future could have so much more potential if we focused on teaching children to be united. What’s more important to America, irrelevant social problems, or focusing on the children of today that will be the future of tomorrow?