Algebra: is it needed

Why do we still teach algebra to our high school students? Invented in Iran in the 8th century, seemingly for the sole purpose of creating stress filled acne in our nations youth. The time-honored cry of “We never use this in real life!” is not only accurate but a heart felt expression of the anguish experienced when we try to learn this stuff. Our schools are already struggling with teaching kids the basics they need to succeed. In part because the answers kids need seem to be constantly changing today and our textbooks and lesson plans can’t keep up.
What foods we are told are healthy seem to change from month to month. Is bread good for you? Is it bad for you? We could teach a class on the use of technology but by the time they graduate everything that was learned will be outdated and obsolete. I was taught DOS in high school. By the time I graduated, Windows had arrived. It seems harder and harder to supply young people any facts that wont be challenged or changed in the near future. What are we and our young people to do?
Maybe, what we need is a class that teaches a technique for finding answers rather than just giving students answers we might have handy. If there was only a process that would train kids to think systematically about problem solving. We need a class that could teach the fundamentals of fact finding in the same way that a sports coach teaches the mechanics of playing baseball or soccer. After all no one ever simply played catch during a real game of baseball or ran laps around the field during a real game of soccer. However these training techniques are still used by coaches around the country to make students better game players. If only there was an academic equivalent to this. Something that wouldn’t be used in real life but would give young people the skills to succeed in real life. Perhaps it is time to double our efforts in the our teaching of Algebra.