Students in today's generation try to get by while putting in as little effort as possible. They are lazy and arrogant. I know this because of the fact that I am included in this generation. In high school, I graduated with a 4.25 grade point average. The majority of people would assume that this shows that I am studious and try hard. It was actually the opposite. I seldom studied for a test, I never would do my homework at home, and most days of the week I would sleep in all of my classes. I personally do not feel like I applied myself in my studies in high school; and yet, I still was a Salutatorian. Teachers praised me while all I was doing was just not being a nuisance in their classrooms. When I graduated, I did not feel as if I accomplished some great feat. I felt as though I finally finished going through a pointless process that earned me a slip of paper that will not get me anywhere in this world. The curriculum and standards of high schools need to be raised. A high school diploma does not carry as much weight as it used to, nor does a GED (General Education Diploma). This can be resolved if the curriculum and standards of high school are raised, if we raise teachers' salaries, and allow teachers to grade as harshly as they feel necessary. High schools are not effective in the light of the fact that students are not allowed to fail. If more students failed out of high school instead of them limping along with a C- average (that they did not earn, but teachers rewarded to them for showing up to school the majority of days), then high school would regain a higher validity of an educational establishment. The school board has done a lot of things for the good of all education; however, teachers are handcuffed by the school board and by the expectations of their superiors. Principals feel that if their is a student failing a teacher's class, then the teacher is to blame for not doing something about it (Strauss 1). Teachers want to do the best that the