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I think if I could get a job in the school system (I'm not a certified teacher) it would be so satisfying to teach kids sewing, cooking, and other basic life skills. I guess it is just the mommy in me. Maybe I should volunteer, although I am pretty tired of never getting paid for the things I do. LOL, I even had to pay dues to Lions Club to volunteer to read stories at a grade school.
As parents it is your responsibility to teach your children life skills it goes along with making the decision to have children.
It appears many parents believe that the school system should raise their children though.
Hah..that's just it. Apparently, many parents do not know these things themselves, then their kids don't.. and what about young people who suddenly become parents?
Hah..that's just it. Apparently, many parents do not know these things themselves, then their kids don't.. and what about young people who suddenly become parents?
Why are so many piling on with the "taxes" and "schools taking on too much" routine? Is that just the automatic knee jerk reaction anymore? All these items and more used to be normal expected classes in schools. Home Ec, Shop, Automech, basic how to use a checkbook, weights and measures, etc.
What happened is many/most schools around the country stopped teaching these essential subjects to add in more college prep. Parents stopped expecting students to be taught skills and started expecting college prep. The education establishment itself pushed to get rid of skills based courses to push the "everyone must go to college" mantra.
So what do we have today? Schools don't teach basic life skills. Test scores are down because now we push everyone onto the college track when they should be on the trade track. Too many graduate without basic lifeskills. And no one wants to admit "college for everyone" is wrong.
Good points. I think that life skills should begin early on - cleanliness, health, how to treat others, with a gradual move into sex education, so girls are guided regarding their own and boys' expectations and boys learn to be respectful and responsible. It seems there should be more about Psychology, learning self-respect and confidence, so that by the time kids reach 15-17, they have fewer hangups (as we see those upset about not getting dates with a "10", for instance.. I realize these false, outside influences have developed over time.. it would be nice if this was wiped out). Anyway, if certain aspects were instilled early, despite what goes on at home, maybe there would be better luck with one's personal development. (I know - some say they "don't want their kids learning from others" - but that is just it, some fail in proper guidance, so at least those kids would have a chance having guidance, elsewhere). The kids who were influenced properly at home, would just have it reinforced.
It would be good if by the time one reaches High School, the focus during would be about life preparation, learning a Trade and other employment-related skills. (As you say, not everyone is cut out for College, which some waste time and money on). As mentioned, one should learn financial management and how to otherwise take care of oneself (instead of some being influenced that something is "women's work"). It should be taught to become self-sufficient, first. (I know, I am dreaming... but if kids didn't have accidental pregnancies, forced marriages, there would not be this hindrance). Also, if pay was better and rent more affordable, one could establish who they are first and develop as a person, to get ahead before deciding to marry or begin a family or not.
Anyway, I got carried away... but have things been working the way they are?
IMO, there are two kinds of kids who are likely to emerge from HS clueless about life: the children of helicopter parents who do everything for their precious snowflakes and the children from dysfunctional families with so much substance abuse/mental illness/etc that their lives are totally chaotic. I think that between those extremes, rich or poor, there's a broad spectrum of knowledge and ignorance in how to navigate life as an adult.
Moreover, contrary to what many may think, lots of poor kids are a lot more knowledgeable about living than wealthier kids because they aren't as sheltered from life's realities as much as kids from families with more resources.
Also there's no guarantee that students will remember the "life skills" they learned in junior or senior high school any better than they remember what they learned in academic subjects, and they may reject whatever their parents taught them because adolescents are often rebellious. It may also be that what parents could teach their kids is already outdated or specific to the family's situation and not applicable to what a single young adult would face (ie, many people don't write checks any more but swipe their debit cards and pay bills online).
Finally, some of these "life skills", particularly those dealing with economics/personal finance, take on political overtones when people who have agendas try to influence school policies. Some elements of financial literacy such as how to calculate interest have been part of the math curriculum for decades, which is no big deal. If a group decides to push for the schools to teach the "evils of debt" as part of the curriculum, that's politicizing the school curriculum.
If the question truly is a question of "how" rather than being a rhetorical talking point, the answer is pretty simple. Get involved and make it a priority within your school board. Even with federal and state guidelines, public schools are still managed and administered at the local level.
One of the best public schools in the country, Stuy in Manhattan still has mandatory technical drafting courses, and electives in all sorts of practical topics from interior design to computer networking.
When the various accrediting organizations accredit schools the availability and type of courses are parting of the criteria used. That includes the Fine Arts as well as the courses and curricula being discussed and not just "core" classes.
Many states have started to require some sort of stand alone Financial Literacy course as a graduation requirement to go along with prior requirements (4 English, 3 Math, etc.).
In addition, part of NCLB and the current Race To The Top also require those classes.
Are many stand alone? No. Have some of the names been changed? Yes. Have some of the old Practical Arts like woodshop been replaced with more 21st Century classes involving computers? Yes.
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How to get schools to teach life skills?
