School prepares us for the future

Thank you, Volg, for instigating this debate.There is a tl;dr version of my arguments (at the end of my affirmative case) for anyone too busy to read my arguments in full.DefinitionSince Con has not ascribed definitions, I will provide the one which I think is crucial for this debate. The definition I have used is a widely accepted, referenced one, so as to ensure that I am not playing semantics unfairly.Prepare[s]: to make (someone or something) ready for some activity, purpose, use, etc. [1]Affirmative CaseA1: School helps prepare for the immediate futureThe easiest and cleanest-cut example of school preparing us (implied as students) for the future is that of preparing students for future spelling tests. Spelling tests are a feature of a lot of schools. This teacher-resource shows how there is a 36-week program that is designed to help students prepare for spelling tests with spelling lists [2]. In other words, schools prepare (make someone ready for some activity) students for the spelling tests that schools set. Another example of how schools prepare students for internal tests can be seen with the Queensland Core Skills Test, wherein students in schools of Queensland are helped prepared for these tests. The preparation involved two methods: bolt-on ("which is conducted as a stand-alone exercise and usually takes the form of practice tests and preparation sessions that are part of the school timetable"), and built-in ("which is focused on the teaching and learning of senior subjects that happens in the classroom"). There are also text-books which help students to prepare for these exams [3].On this point alone is the resolution affirmed.A2: School helps prepare for collegeAccording to the National Association for College Admission Counselling, there are several ways in which high schools help prepare students for college [4]. One of these ways is “college-level courses”. Moreover, “in 2009, 86 percent of high schools provided opportunities for students to participate in dual enrolment [meaning being enrolled in both secondary and post-secondary institutions], and two-thirds had Advanced Placement (AP) classes on site”. All of these transitional opportunities are ways in which schools help student prepare for college.There are also college counselling opportunities, of which spend “21 percent or more of their time assisting students with college readiness, selection and applications” [4]. More specifically, these counselling opportunities involved helping students with “obtaining financial aid for college, consulting with postsecondary representatives about requirements and qualifications, holding or participating in college fairs, and holding a session on the transition to college for students or parents”. In the realms of counselling, clearly there is much work being done by schools to help prepare students for the future.Tl;dr argumentsA1 shows how students are prepared for the immediate future by schools offering spelling practise for future spelling tests. Another way A1 affirmed the resolution was that schools in Queensland helped students prepare for future Core Skills Tests. A2 affirmed the resolution by showing how schools help students prepare for (future) college, wherein there was transition (AP classes) and counselling opportunities.Counter-arguments“Because of I got bad experience and I tell you. In my school, I chose language class but it wasn't opened and they throwed me maths-science class. It wasn't even my choice. I tried to go another school which has language class. But There is no school has language class. And I have been studying maths-science. After all, I can't be what i want. With such a system, How they can prepare me for the future?”Unfortunately, my opponent’s argument is an anecdotal fallacy [5]. How this occurred was that my opponent attempted to use a sole, unreferenced instance wherein school did not help him/her prepare for the future, and my opponent then concludes that school does not help prepare us for the future. Clearly, as I demonstrated with my affirmative case, there are plenty of ways in which school helps us prepare for the future. A singular, unreferenced (i.e. could be made-up) instance of school not helping you prepare for the future does not mean that school does not help you prepare for the future.As to the actual content of what my opponent argued, there is also the problem of the implication that a non-offering of language class means that school does not help us prepare for the future. There is nothing my opponent offers to show that language class is essential for the future, hence there is nothing to suggest that when schools do not offer such a class, that the school does not help us prepare for the future.References[1] http://www.merriam-webster.com...[2] http://www.k12reader.com... [3] https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au...[4] http://www.nacacnet.org...[5] https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com...