The new generation of the twenty-first century has been given many well-deserved titles, but being lazy is not one of them. High school exit exams have been part of school curricula since the 1800s, and the first was administered in New York in 1878 under heavy controversy (Finkel 1). Opponents of the exit exam cite lower graduation rates and how a grown adult without a diploma will suffer heavily in his or her adult life. What many will not admit is that the pros of these exit exams are just as vast as the so-called “cons” of the tests. The school leaving exam encourages teachers to push their students and establish a national standard for academic achievement to ensure that American students are prepared for the international and collegiate levels. First, to dispel some common misconceptions about the school leaving exam, it is in no way illegal. For more than 40 years, students, presumably those who have failed exams, have been going to court claiming that the state is denying them part of their public education. Continued court battles have given the tests a certain conundrum that must be dispelled before the test's merit can be validated. In the 1981 court case Debra P v. Turlington (1981), a federal district judge in Florida ruled that these tests were legal. “To satisfy due process, the court ruled that students must be informed of the academic content several years before the test is implemented. The court also required that schools demonstrate the “curricular validity” of having actually taught what was expected on the exam.” (Holme and Heilig 1). This is also not the only case regarding the legality of exit exams, but it was the first, and... middle of the paper... for me. When the time gets closer, I can assign more [work] than normal. They [the students] know it's a big problem and they will work for it. The exam pushes them to learn." Implementing these exit exams nationwide would restore the sense of hunger for knowledge found in times gone by. The call to end high school exit exams is not only a demonstration of America's failing attitude toward education, but also a way to ensure America's students are doomed to higher education levels. National exit exams would not harm overall standards of education, but rather give students and teachers a reason to crack down and get to work. So instead of making excuses, it's time for the American education system to set a standard that students can achieve, not a standard that is simply trampled upon like the one that has so sadly failed this new generation..