In addidtion to all the valuable book-lernin’ that is taught in schools, there seems to be plenty of opportunity to educate young adults all the kind of practical day-to-day getting-through-life-stuff.
Maybe some high schools have something like this – mine had “Senior Home Economics” which touched on some basic laundry and cooking stuff; but I found it to barely scratch the surface of what could have been a really useful course.
Housekeeping
Cooking
Laundry
Basic Home Maintainence & Repair
Auto
Basic Auto Maintainence & Repair
(Driver’s Education is related)
Financial
Reconciling a checkbook register
Budgeting / Living within your means
Credit Cards, Loans & interest basics
Tax Returns
These are just the tip of the iceberg. I’m interested in hearing what kinds of things you think should be in a course like this…
Most of these are related to things already mention by Hey you!. Some of these things supposedly existed at some of my schools, but were in actuality pretty much a joke.
[ul]
[li]How to buy a car without getting ripped off.[/li][li]Basic first aid. Maybe some advanced first aid.[/li][li]Real nutrition.[/li][li]How to get the other financial aid for college.[/li][li]A good, useful, realistic sex ed course (maybe your school had this; mine did not).[/li][li]Basic contracts/negotiations/use of the [Your Country Here] legal system.[/li][/ul]
And here’s the biggest one as far as I’m concerned: how to empty a trash can (maybe you’d need to know some of the barbarians I have to associate with to appreciate this one).
Agree with the Social Skills Training. Among other things, such a class should cover:
– How to live with a roommate
– How to behave on a first date; how to refuse a date / accept refusal graciously; how to break up with someone without gratuitous cruelty; how to be on the receiving end of a breakup without turning into an emotional wreck or a stalker
– How to bring up problems with bosses / co-workers in an assertive but non-accusatory manner
– How to make small talk (hell, nine years after high school I still haven’t figured this one out).
I think for 1-2 years early in their adult life most kids should be homeless. They should travel the country/world as nomads living off whatever means they can manage. They’ll learn a totally new perspective on life they’d never get any other way.
How to do stuff you don’t want to do but have to do to make a living
You’re not special, you’re not unique, and the world isn’t concerned about your self-esteem
Look after your body when you’re young - course comes complete with multimedia presentation of old people’s bodies breaking down
Your mother doesn’t live/work here - things she did for you that no one will ever do for you again, so you might as well learn how to do them yourselves
Groceries don’t grow on trees - the complex life-cycle of earning money, taking it to the store, and actually buying your own food (right to putting it away and making meals from it)
Complete all of these courses, and you’ll be ready to graduate to a world were everything you do is no big deal because 6 billion people are doing the same things!
Other courses:
Retail 101-A “real world” course. You learn how to jockey a register. Basic job training AND you learn some of what they go through.
Secretarial Skills 101-Same as above.
Seeing Things in a Different Light, Domestic-Moves you from a small town to a big city, and vice versa. So many people never even leave their hometown and they drive me up the wall.
Seeing Things in a Different Light, Overseas-Much the same, only it places you in a different country. Or series of countries. And by country, I don’t just mean “Europe”.
Rhetoric and Interpersonal Communication. Also including BODY LANGUAGE.
Grammar. Hardcore Grammar. I hated it the 2 years I had it, but it helped.
Basic Cooking-I know people that can barely make toast. I’m no chef, but I do alright.
Responsibility. To include Financial Responsibility, cause I once lived with a roomie who thought if we ignored bills long enough, they’d just disappear into Bill Heaven. Along with graphic explanations of how important it is to maintain good credit. I just had so-so credit for a while and it’s a royal pain.
How Education is Applicable To Real Life - or why failing to do your algebra homework will result in your having to pay someone else to measure your house for carpeting.
Don’t forget the field trips to the car dealership, grocery store, Army recruiter, maximum security prison (I’m thinking this is a weekend affair), and morgue!
In the Compassion 101, (and 201, 301, etc.) classes the students should have to wear “ugly suits” for a prolonged period of time. Some won’t really need to wear them; they’re already being treated like shit for their looks. But those who have not been treated like a sub-human because of their (percieved) bad looks could sure use the experience. It would help curb the callous treatment of people who are not deemed “attractive” enough, and would also teach certain people (who are blessed with good looks) that no, they aren’t being treated well because of anything on the inside, but because of what’s on the outside. And what’s on the outside is fleeting, so maybe it’s a good idea to cultivate some other skills and strengths in their personality as well. (And of course, not all attractive people would really need this lesson, but some would.)
If there was a way to get the students who are being treated like shit because of their looks some sort of make-over, so they can get a glimmer of what it feels like to be treated like a complete human being that is entitled to feelings, that would go a long way as well.
Working with bureaucracy. When you start living on your own, you have to suddenly handle lots of things with the government and/or large companies. To get things properly and relatively speedily done, you must understand how they want you to comply with things. A lot of people don’t seem to know how to do this properly, or have to learn the hard way.
