Sometimes I get very angry when I think of the public school system I grew up in and what it’s become today. Somehow, in its objective to prepare youngsters for life, the focus got crossed and the many foundations of learning valuable lessons for living are left up to parents, fate, college and good luck.
What if children that are being brought up to adulthood today were actually being taught lessons to help them cope with their lives now and onward; life lessons? What if everyone of us took responsibility for helping them do just that and not leaving it up to someone else to do it?
No offense to the teachers who teach these classes, but school subjects like P.E., Geometry, and Algebra, should be electives and not mandatory because not every person will enjoy a specialty in these areas. Though P.E. teaches children about the importance of physical activity, most children hate it. They don’t hate it because they don’t want to be active, most kids hate it because it can foster embarrassment and a damaged self-esteem because of its inability to treat each child as an individual case. We are talking about physicality of a child. They deserve special care. And though it’s been over 20 years after taking algebra and geometry, I’ve never used it for anything in real life… not one single thing!
Now days, most adults and teens rely on books, the Internet, and TV shows that will help them with anything to do with dealing with real life. Oprah has her “Life Class” on OWN and there are so many learning web classes that feature subjects that are unconventional to the classroom, like “Make-Overs on A Budget” and “How To Start Your Own T-Shirt Line”. So there is a need for alternative subject learning.
The list below reflects a few of the subjects I feel are so very desperately needed in our public school system so that our future generations can get a heads up on life. Some may be funny and some people may even assume that parents are able to teach these subjects, but the reality is that it’s not. So if the school system wants to make sure that its students are prepared for life, they may consider adding these courses to their curriculum.
o Common sense / Logic
o Sociology
o Psychology
o Self-Esteem
o Self-Respect
o Self-Discipline
o The Value Life And Living Things
o Responsibility
o Rejection
o Loss and Grieving
o Motivation
o Time Management
o Organization
o Financial Management
o Income Taxes (Mainly how to fill out the individual income tax form since everyone has to.)
o How To Get A Job (This course should deal with how to search for job, get requirements for the job, and how to behave on the job.)
On a special note, kids should not have to wait to get to college to take Logic, Sociology or Psychology. You’ve been dealing with it for at least 12 years by the time you can take a course about it. That’s a disadvantage. Doesn’t that make you mad a little? It drives me crazy.
The hope is that through all of the classes kids take, somehow the teachers manage to squeeze in life lessons somehow. It’s not the case because I’m not the first or only person to think of this.
Some other articles on the Internet about this topic:
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