No two Ohioans’ lives and career paths look the same. Every individual finds their own way. And what qualifies as “success” to one person might mean nothing to another. Ask any classroom teacher whether a one-size-fits-all approach to helping students succeed will work and they may well laugh.

But state Sen. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, doesn’t see it that way. He introduced Senate Bill 156, which would require integration of the “success sequence” in the required curriculum for middle and high school students.

The idea is for students to be taught that the proper order in which to proceed with their lives is to graduate high school (at least), get a full-time job, get married, then have kids. In that order.

The bill reads: “The department of education and workforce shall develop standards and a model curriculum about the success sequence for grades six to twelve, which shall include evidence, identified using the best research methods available, describing the positive personal and societal outcomes associated with the success sequence.”

Cutrona told WOSU he believed that by doing those things, “you create the opportunity for success,” and are less likely to end up in poverty.

SB 156 is supported by the likes of the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute and the Center for Christian Virtue, though Cutrona insists the success sequence is not religion-based.

Cutrona’s intentions may be good, but the rest of the state senate should give SB 156 the consideration it deserves. None.

Imagine being a student raised by a loving family under circumstances that don’t otherwise fit what teachers are being asked to tell their classrooms, for starters. Imagine being a teacher who has spent years trying to help children understand they are individuals capable of asking questions, thinking critically and forging their own paths, only to have the state government tell them they need to ask students all to fit into the same box.

Certainly, there are those who have (without it being part of their school’s curriculum) found their definition of success after their lives played out in a way that followed the sequence. But everyone reading this can think of those who found success after their lives played out differently.

To groom children to believe they should follow only a very narrow set of steps could be incredibly damaging to some. And, really, it’s none of the state’s business.

Tennessee and Utah already think it is, however. Texas, Kentucky and Mississippi are also considering jumping on board, according to WOSU.

Look at that list for a moment. Does Ohio belong in that bunch? No. Should state government be looking for one more way to make teachers’ lives more difficult while limiting students’ ideas about what is possible? Absolutely not.