I believe they should be mandatory to teach life skills in school

[Marshalscienceguy]

In schools when a students have good grade and doesn't have a lot of friends they complain they are not social enough. If you are too social and don't pay attention in class than they say you have to focus more and stop socializing. Children end up bullying each other since they don't know how to handle stress or puberty. We force them to work in teams but we don't assign a leader and expect them to just figure it out. There is also always the issue of one kid taking over all the work of the group and the rest of the group doing nothing. We also don't teach children how to interview or even do taxes or handle money. Of all the things they teach why is this never stressed in school? If you cant present yourself and there is 100 other people with the same credentials the better presentation probably has better chances. Some people don't have good social skills but its not like anyone teaches it either. We have people growing up not ready to work, not ready to pay taxes, Not ready to interview and lacking proper socialization skills. The best GPA in the world doesn't matter if you don't have basic living skills.

[Ten oz]

^^^^I have a lot of thoughts on this but am not sure where you are looking to take this discussion?

[Airbrush]

You deserve a +1 for that! YEEES, teach life skills. They are far more important than memorizing a LOT of stuff. Other stuff is important too, but set aside at least a half hour a day for all life skills necessary for survival.

[Ophiolite]

It would help if you specified

a) What country or countries are you talking about.

b) how, in a general way, those life skills should be taught.

c) Exactly which life skills you would include.

d) How you would ensure the teachers would be equipped to teach life skills.

 

The last point is, perhaps, something to form part of the discussion.

[Acme]

... We also don't teach children how to interview or even do taxes or handle money. Of all the things they teach why is this never stressed in school? ...

In fact 'we' do teach children life-skills. In the US, it varies state-to-state and district-to-district.

 

State Requirements for High School Life-Skills Courses

Purpose

This Iowa Civic Analysis Network (I-CAN) report compares life-skills curriculum requirements

for high-school graduation across states and the District of Columbia.

The States

In addition to curriculum in core educational areas such as math, English, and the sciences, some

states mandate that students take courses in: 1) technology; 2) financial or economic literacy; and

3) career skills in order to graduate from high school. Those reading the state-by-state

breakdown included at the end of this report, which was compiled from the legislative and/or

education-department web sites of each state, should consider that:

● State requirements are usually measured by a Carnegie educational unit, sometimes called a credit hour. Students attending a class that meets for one hour (often shortened to 50 minutes) for each of the five weekdays earn .5 of a Carnegie credit for an entire semester, 1 Carnegie credit for an entire year of such a class, and so forth. For example, since most state legislatures have decided students should receive four years of English education, they require 4 Carnegie credits in English. Most states mandate between 16-20 total high-school credit-hours for graduation. All credits have been converted to their Carnegie equivalent for the purposes of this report.1

● The requirements included in the chart below are minimums as dictated by each state. Many school districts within the states also adopt life-skills course requirements on top of the state mandates. Some states also have either/or requirements, where students can choose a technology, financial/economic literacy, or career-skills course among other options to fulfill certain elective-credit requirements; because they are not necessarily mandatory for graduation, those requirements are not included below.

● Fifteen states have multiple degree programs, affording students the option of taking more classes, including life-skills courses, in order to qualify for and graduate with an advanced high-school diploma. Some states also mandate life-skills courses, not required for a general diploma, for students who wish to be admitted to a college or university in the state. Finally, some states offer an alternative diploma for students who plan to forgo higher education and enter a technical profession; some of those diploma routes have life-skills course requirements that those seeking a general diploma need not meet. Again, only those requirements necessary for the most basic diploma in each state are included in this report. ...

[EdEarl]

My wife is a K-5 special-ed teacher. In her school there are a few students in life skills class, but they teach rather basic things such as how to eat and go to the bathroom. You definitely need to qualify your intentions as Ophiolite said.

[Ophiolite]

but they teach rather basic things such as how to eat and go to the bathroom. You definitely need to qualify your intentions as Ophiolite said.

Indeed. If you get these things mixed up, they never let you visit the Waldorf Astoria again.

[EdEarl]

 

EdEarl, on 13 Jul 2014 - 1:01 PM, said:

but they teach rather basic things such as how to eat and go to the bathroom. You definitely need to qualify your intentions as Ophiolite said.

Indeed. If you get these things mixed up, they never let you visit the Waldorf Astoria again.

 

No wonder the Waldorf didn't respond to my request for a room.

[iNow]

It might be argued that forcing kids to figure things out for themselves and self-organize within randomly gathered groups in somewhat chaotic and ill-defined environments IS teaching them life skills.

 

I do believe we should reintroduce / avoid cutting funding for civics and home ec classes, though, as well as phys ed.

Edited July 13, 2014 by iNow

[John Cuthber]

If we could teach our kids that "if it looks too good to be true, it probably is" then we would wipe out quite a lot of crime.

[Ophiolite]

A smart person learns from their mistakes.

 

A successful person learns from other people's mistakes.

 

Let's teach them that.

[Phi for All]

If you think your hobby is collecting something, but you enjoy looking for the next piece in your collection more than the collection itself, your real hobby may be shopping. Make sure it's not.

[Ten oz]

 

Life skills are nice but there are so many factors that impact child. Millions of children are sexually abused, have abusive parents, family members on drugs, live in a violent community, and so on. Even beyond the really bad stuff most kids are fed garbage food with little nutrition, speed hours watching TV or playing video games because their parents want time to themselves, and don't get me started on Miley Cyrus. Couple the environmental impacts along with the various intensities and spans of puberty and it is easy to understand why our public education system struggles.

 

I think schools need to stop treating bad students like bad children and good students like good children. Bad students are that way for a reason. Detention just feels like piling on to a kid that is already being abused at home. Think about; staring in elementary school kids are given detention for being late to school. Who fault is it though? Is it really a 5-11yr old kid's fault if they are late? So why do they bare the punishment? I think a lot of schools spend too much time and energy rewarding success rather than trying to help children who could use it. I understand why. It is a lot easier to teach well adjusted kids with terrific support systems at home than struggle to get the attention of some distracted kid who on average takes longer to understand what you're saying.

[EdEarl]

The goals of schools are bizarre in many cases. The main focus for schools today is to do enough with kids to insure federal funding isn't withdrawn. They have stopped most physical education, which means some kids have excess energy and act out in class, but the schools punish these kids by making them stay in detention, while their classmates go out for recess.

[barfbag]

80% of everything a person learns is before the age of 5. This includes social behaviors.

 

I started two of my three children in school when they were 3 months old, and they are both smart leaders among their peers. I recommend early education. Socialize your infants.

 

When my kids hit kindergarten and grade one they were like, "why are you crying, your mom will come back for you?" to all the terrified youngsters who have never left their mommas side.

 

Japan starts school at a younger age than most of us. I think school should start at birth.

[iNow]

80% of everything a person learns is before the age of 5.

[Citation Needed]

 

On another note, 83% of all statistics are completely made up.

[Ophiolite]

barfbag, on 15 Jul 2014 - 12:40 AM, said:

80% of everything a person learns is before the age of 5

 

[Citation Needed]

I think he was speaking about himself.

[imatfaal]

!

Moderator Note

 

I believe they should be mandatory to teach life skills in school

 

This is the topic (del 'they' replc 'it') - please stick to it and avoid casting aspersions. Many thanks

 

[Delbert]

Life skills = common sense.

 

And has common sense, ever at any time, been on the curriculum?

 

Quite frankly, if children are deemed to be leaving school devoid of common sense - sorry, life skills - then something has failed completely.

 

I can only report my experience at school. We arrived. The register was marked. The teacher said: I'm just popping out to speak with the headmaster. Any other times when she was actually in front of us, she would talk about religion, or put the radio on if there was a church service. Presumably she thought that was a sound preparation for life.

 

I can categorically say without contradiction that when I left school I could write my own name.

 

Anyway, with these sort of arguments I recall the late great Bill Shankly: I never had an education, I had to use my brain.

[Sensei]

I was watching tv document about some South Indian tribe.

One guy was complaining that now their children are going to school and teaching nothing useful.

Complained about learning counting, learning letters and how to read ("where is bookstore in jungle?")

He said that when he was young his father taught him how to fish, how to hunt, build house from wood and leafs..

Now his kids don't know how to survive in jungle..

Edited July 22, 2014 by Sensei

[Delbert]

Now his kids don't know how to survive in jungle..

Not just kids, I suggest, but perhaps most of the western world.

 

I seem to recall a situation whereby an aircraft had made a forced landing in a remote part of the world (somewhere in Australia I believe). A local native inhabitant noticed the forced landing and watched them from distance until they started to become weak through lack of food and water. Deciding it was then save to approach the weakened group, the native offered to show them how to obtain food and water sufficient to survive until finally rescued. Clearly, the native had all the skills needed to survive, whereas the westernised occupants of the plane, with all their technology, had no idea whatsoever.

 

The native had all the life skills needed.

Edited July 22, 2014 by Delbert

[tomgwyther]

Great topic.

As it happens, I am writing a book on this very subject. I started it when my wife got pregnant with the intention of dedicating it to my daughter.

The working title is 'The universe: some useful information to help you live in it.'*

It contains chapters on money, credit cards, tax, how to rent a house, how car insurance works, what to do if someone dies, what to do in a crisis (poverty, homelessness) how the law effects you, basic mathamatical concepts for everyday life. etc etc etc.

Basically, all the stuff you learn after school via trial and error.

The idea came to me many years ago, after a minor car accident. I had no idea how car insurance really worked and as a result I ended up getting shafted by the other party
"If only they had taught me in school how car insurance works" I thought.

 

 

*I shall need to consult with Douglas Adams' estate for use of the title, I've always thought it rather catchy!

 

 

p.s. this is the curent contents list.

Money

What is Money?

Banks

Savings

Debt

Spending

Law

Your rights

Your responsibilities

Common law

Civil law

Home

Domestic admin

Water

Electricity

Travel

Cars

Automotive admin

Air travel

Public transport

Survival

Finding food

Finding shelter

Death

What is death

What happens

What to do next

 

Edited July 22, 2014 by tomgwyther

[Ophiolite]

The native had all the life skills needed.

But the same native could have a hell of a time renting a car at the airport, driving to his hotel and setting his alarm for a 7:20 breakfast appointment. Life skills are environment dependent.

 

Which is why, tomgwyther, you are writing for the US, I guess, not even the Western world in general.

[Delbert]

But the same native could have a hell of a time renting a car at the airport, driving to his hotel and setting his alarm for a 7:20 breakfast appointment.

They are not life skills, they are renting a car, driving to his hotel and setting his alarm.

 

I think you forget, our brain has evolved to what's necessary to do what the native was doing - assuming that is, you believe in evolution. Our hands didn't evolve to put together a computer, car, watches, build skyscrapers and all the other things, it evolved to do what the native was doing. We just found a different use for said equipment.

 

And what's more, I seem to recall reading recently the results of a survey that compared the brains of our ancestors thousands of years ago to modern humans, it found our brains have shrunk!! That is smaller. Sorry, I can't recall where, so unless it can be found on the internet, you'll have to take my word for it.

[Acme]

Life skills = common sense.

 

And has common sense, ever at any time, been on the curriculum?...

No. The OP specifically mentions doing taxes -among other things- and doing taxes is not a common sense skill. You have missed the point entirely.