As of today, there is such high pressure for students to have it all figured out in life as to what careers they have planned for the rest of their lives. If you’re a current high school student or know someone who is, then you probably know how much their phone and social media means to them, and despite how gratifying they can be, they also serve as a very big factor for pressure on students.

The internet nowadays and modern media online in general is filled with tons of misleading information when it comes to careers or how to make money. Not just the misinformation, but there are also tons of younger people who portray themselves as people who found success straight out of high school, and most of the time it is a made-up lifestyle to promote some product they sell. As a result, teens are misled to believe that they must find success quickly after graduating high school when, in reality, that is not the case at all and, if anything, due to the amount of misguidance and false information, it is now more difficult to have a clear plan on what to do after graduating.

The amount of distractions in our modern culture gives our generation of high school students a lot more opportunities to be distracted and not have a clear direction in regards to a future career. However, it’s not just the distractions, but primarily the lack of guidance and vision for students nowadays. Educating the mind and obtaining a skill in the form of a certificate or degree is severely overshadowed by the glorification of the fruits of success such as money and fame, as opposed to the journey to reach that destination. The process of getting a good education or pursuing a skill in a trade or any other field of work is almost never talked about outside of school and it leads many students to a pile of confusion. Whether it is students wanting quick success or not having a clue of how to reach that, there are many different aspects of how modern media makes it very difficult for students to have a clear and aligned career planned after high school. Despite the advancements in technology and increased access to informative websites and online media, most of the newly formed opportunities aren’t that good and just give more room for our generation to be confused. So the next time a high school student is confused on their career paths, keep in mind all the distractions that comes with our modern generation.