Whats the standard education degree for good jobs these days?

a high school diploma is not goin to be enough for a most jobs. It used to be a bachelors degree for most jobs. I heard now it rose to a M.D.- masters degree. For some jobs, u can keep going and get a Ph.D.-Philosophy degree. bachlors takes around 2-3 years after college, masters takes around 4, and i dont know about Ph.Ds though.

After your high school diploma come a few options.

You can get an Associate of Arts (AA) degree, or an Associate of Science (AS) degree.  These are 2-year degrees.
 
The AS (or there's another called the AAS - Associate of Applied Science, but it's less common) is more for if you are wanting to go directly into work, as a technician or semi-professional, for instance.  It's more for a specialized, specific area of work so that you can begin working faster.  

The AA covers the general education over its 2 years, such as 3 English college classes, 2 Math, 3 Science, 3 History, some electives (your choice), etc.  Just basic subjects.  This type of degree usually leads you into a Bachelor's degree, the next level up.  Each of these, the AA and AS are 60 credit hour degrees.  You can usually accomplish either of these at a local community college.

A Bachelor's is a four year degree, usually attained from a college or university.  The AA can be the first 2 years of these 4 years.  The last 2 years are spent studying your specific field, such as Business Management or Special Education.  That's where you narrow your field.
Most well paying jobs these days will require at least a Bachelor's - you'll certainly be better off if you get one of these, as it's for most areas and careers (except those specialized professions such as electrician and plumber - one of the lower ones will be okay for that).

A Master's degree is a 6-year degree.  Most jobs will not require this, but if you do go for it you'll have an advantage.  Pays higher, usually.  It's basically an extra 2 years of the special education tailored to your career - teachers study teaching an extra 2 years, for example.  

I hope that helped!!  :-)

Well done Snowball... good overview.

to add to the conversation, you can basically view the progression / importance of degrees like this:

Certifications
Associates
Bachelors
Masters
Doctorates

Each level of training/education takes you to a higher-level of expertise and proficiency.

Browse this website to get some more exposure to what types of degrees are out there.

http://www.onlinedegrees.org/

But, beyond getting an education to find a 'better-paying job,' I'd also recommend that you learn about Personal Financial Planning  and Money Management. Learning how to "make your money work harder for you - - than how hard you work for your money" is what will give you greater success regardless of your education or what career you choose.

http://books.google.com/books?id=5iIqi_OIKSAC

It is a shame that this important topic is not addressed in High school education.

Here is a start:
http://financialplan.about.com/

Oh... to your question as to why all the pressure on Teens on education / grades etc... We can go on into a very long write-up on the many reasons of world economics, and the U.S. state of education versus the rest of the world and the advantages and disadvantages of such - - so, I won't:

However, in my opinion, our U.S. society is not viewing Teens as "children" anymore... technology has provided Teens opportunities that have not been available to them in the past. And, some teens are rolling in the money because of this. Read about some of them: (maybe you will be inspired...)

http://potw.news.yahoo.com/s/potw/52250/teen-millionaire

http://money.aol.com/forbes/general/teen-millionaires

http://smallbusiness.aol.com/start/startup/article/_a/a-teen-millionaires-three-principles-to/20070112152209990001

http://www.forbes.com/2008/02/09/teen-millionaires-startups-ent-success-cx-ml_0211millionaires.html