Are They Ready?

As these two young men pose for a cameraphone photo before going to the Homecoming Dance with their friends, I wonder: are they ready? Has their experience in school so far, 11 years and counting, prepared them for a future that will be unique in the same way mine was from my parents?
My son is on the right - he has done well, but I wonder if his learning experinces have taken advantage of all of his talents, stretched him in new directions, offered several ways to produce a product acceptable to his teachers.
Why didn't his education stay on the same path as in elementary school? He is/was in the gifted program. I've always felt all children should have exposure to inquiry-based, project-based learning and assessment. Why does learning shift so dramatically in junior and senior high? Aren't those skills ones that should be nurtured continually? Couldn't he take much better advantage of learning when it is done in collaboration with the teacher and his peers?
So, again, I ask: are they ready? And I wonder; who is "they?"