Since we are quickly approaching the end of the blogs, I
have decided to approach a slightly different topic while still staying within
the lines of the importance of basics being taught in schools. This topic was
brought to my attention in a previous comment and I decided that it would be
interesting to talk about it. Some say that the teachers should teach life
skills during school hours, whereas others say that it should be left up to the
parents to teach them to their children. Personally, I see it both ways! In
this post, I will speak only on the point of view that yes, life skills should
be taught in schools.
In elementary schools today, some skills are being taught.
For example, in the third grade, students are still learning how to tell time
and how to count money. (2) These are skills that I believe are still necessary
regardless of there being digital clocks and money counters nowadays. I think
it would be very unfortunate if schools stopped teaching these essential skills.
In my opinion, there are still other life skills that should
be taught to students in elementary school. As adults (or almost adults), there
are some simple skills that we are required to know in order to have a
successful future. For example, how many of us can say that we know how to
properly write a check or deal with household bills and taxes? (1) I do not
believe that the majority of us can say that we are confortable managing those
tasks completely on our own. I believe that simple skills like that as well as
knowing how to accomplish basic home improvements should be required courses
that should be taught to all students in school.
In the case of some students, they are not taught anything
except for what they learn at school (there is no parental guidance). With that
being said, if students are not learning how to accomplish these simple tasks
at school, there are chances that they will not learn them at all.
I see this decline in teaching life skills as a vicious
circle. Let’s say that a young adult cannot repair something on his or her own.
Since this person was not taught this basic skill at school, he or she has to
go out of their way to hire someone to fix the problem for them. That is the
first step. Now, after the professional performs the required repairs, this
young adult now has to pay this person. Seeing as this person also was not
taught how to manage his or her finances either, they now have to go out of
their way once again to seek some assistance. To summarize, people are having
to pay others to do simple repairs and tasks that could be done on their own.
It is clear to me that there are certain skills that
adolescents should be required to learn in school. That being said, teachers
should be required to teach them. The simple things that our parents do for us
now, will be left up to us to do in just a few years. So, up to this point,
what do you think? Should these life skills be taught in schools?
This is a very good blog post, Nina, but I’m finding it hard to understand one of your opinions. You said that teachers should take the time to teach elementary school children how to write checks, pay bills and do home improvements. I have to disagree. Those three skills, although they are important in life, should be taught only to high school students. Most elementary school children don’t have jobs and/or bank accounts and/or homes. Those are things that are generally acquired in high school or even after. Furthermore, paying bills is very complicated and I doubt a young child could understand, especially because it involves percentages and interests. If you don’t agree with me I’d love to explore your point of view some more, so please respond.
ReplyDeleteJoel, I do agree with what you are saying that elementary school kids may be a little too young to understand these concepts. However, I do believe that students within the ages of eleven and fourteen could benefit from simply being introduced to these skills at a young age. I tend to think that the more practice that one has when it comes to a complicated skill, the easier it will become for them when the time comes for them to use it!
DeleteWow you make a great point here Nina! Elementary school did a good job teaching the count of money and time but they did miss to teach other important lessons of life. It’s just been recently that I learned how to pay my bills and to write a check. Although I still have no clue about mortgage payments, on how to buy a car, life insurance and all of that. That stuff needs to be taught.
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