# Life Skills 101 at Sitnam High School **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 20, 2009, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290 "2009-11-20T15:14:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290/1 "2009-11-20T15:14:02Z")
Here at Sitnam High School we pride ourselves on a quality well-rounded education which is why no student may graduate without showing aptitude in our semester course Life Skills 101. Some students may already have many of these skills but we feel it’s important to make sure everyone has a solid foundation for an adult life. This course will cover: Balancing a checkbook changing a car tire changing the oil in your car Getting a loan / understanding different mortgages Credit Card interest rates hanging drywall / patching holes interviewing doing your taxes compare and contrast policies of two candidates in an election unclogging a sink power tools insurance What have I forgotten? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290/2 "2009-11-20T15:24:03Z")
Cooking 101 Introduction to Pet Care Maintaining A Healthy Relationship (with lab) Drywall? Call the guy. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290/3 "2009-11-20T16:14:14Z")
kitchen and food safety first aid ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290/4 "2009-11-20T16:24:13Z")
I’m not so sure changing the oil is all that important. It doesn’t cost that much, $30 or so, and to do it yourself you have to find a place to take the oil, which around me is hard to do any more. I’m also not convinced on the hanging drywall, I’ve never had to do it and if I’m going to need to do so the person who cut the hole is probably going to fix it anyway. Now patching a hole is a different matter, and I should get to patching the one I have now. I think something about the price of eating out vs making food should be taught as well. I know a lot of people just go out to eat and wonder why they don’t have money. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290/5 "2009-11-20T16:24:39Z")
Use of correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar: It matters, even on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290/6 "2009-11-20T16:25:45Z")
Assertiveness. This will teach the valuable skill of being able to jump on your landlord’s ass to get him to fix the damn heat/sink/leaky pipes coming from the apartment above you forcing you to sacrifice one of your pots to catch the dripping water. Also, to get your neighbour to stop blasting Aerosmith at 2am. ---
**Author:** ![kombatminipig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5ac83/32.png) [@kombatminipig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kombatminipig)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290/7 "2009-11-20T16:29:34Z")
How to jumpstart a car (lifesaving in cold climates) How to drive on icey roads (even living in Sweden I’m surprised each winter how many people don’t know how to get up an icey hill) Different types of fires, fire extinguishers and how to use them. Basic electrical skills ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290/8 "2009-11-20T16:31:54Z")
The first Christmas after I moved out on my own, my mom got me the book [Where’s Mom Now That I Need Her?](http://www.amazon.com/Wheres-Mom-Now-That-Need/dp/0961539011) - primarily a cookbook (was a godsend for bachelor cooking, and even now that I’ve been married for almost 10 years, when it’s my turn to cook I often turn there first) but also has things like bike repair, vehicle maintenance, first aid, sewing, and all those other things you need to know when you’re out on your own. Most of the stuff already covered (and probably a lot of the stuff that has yet to be posted) in this thread is in there. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290/9 "2009-11-20T16:31:55Z")
Basic legal principles (e.g., contracts, torts, property, criminal law, maybe throw in some consumer law) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290/10 "2009-11-20T16:55:06Z")
Doing your laundry (the advanced course will be “ironing.”) ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290/11 "2009-11-20T16:55:13Z")
I agree that changing oil and hanging drywall are useful, but not necessary life skills, while basic cooking is. I’d add: basic computer security (i.e. why not to download and install programs from suspicious sites, why not to give out your passwords, why you really won’ t be getting five million dollars from Nigeria). ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290/12 "2009-11-20T17:12:26Z")
Budgeting Basic child care - even if you are never a parent, its likely at some point you’d need to watch children Longer range planning - (i.e. if I commit to a $300 a month car payment, I won’t be able to move out of my mother’s basement until I double my income. If we have kids now, we won’t be able to afford childcare and then one of us will have to stay home with kids - and the budget says we then won’t be able to both eat and pay our mortgage.) Problem solving (but I could move to nights, she could continue to work days, and while we won’t see each other much for about seven years, we can make this work). Nutrition and health ---
**Author:** ![CrimeThink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90db22/32.png) [@CrimeThink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrimeThink)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290/13 "2009-11-20T18:05:54Z")
I think the balancing one’s checkbook session should be modernized to a session on using Electronic Banking. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290/14 "2009-11-20T18:50:43Z")
I didn’t learn any of that stuff in high school and I’ve done fine, having learned everything on your list by just learning when the need arose. It’s not a bad idea to have such a course, but I think it’s better to prepare a person’s brain to reason and make better life decisions. The one about evaluating political candidates is excellent. The other things on the list … meh. Lessons about diet, career, and post-secondary education options would be on my list. Thinking back I wished that I had more coaching in those areas in high school. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290/15 "2009-11-20T20:36:20Z")
Write a resume. Heck, when you graduate you should have a diploma and a working resume in hand. How to make a baby, if you want, or how to avoid making babies if you don’t want. Basic sewing - even guys can do it! ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290/16 "2009-11-20T20:38:25Z")
[QUOTE=kunilou] Doing your laundry (the advanced course will be “ironing.”) [/QUOTE] For some folks, “Putting Away” is the 200-level course. A pre-requisite for the Assertiveness course would be Voice: Enunciation and Projection. If people would learn how to speak by actually moving their teeth and tongue, we might be able to eradicate the phrase “Sorry, I didn’t understand you.” ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290/17 "2009-11-20T21:05:38Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > Basic legal principles (e.g., contracts, torts, property, criminal law, maybe throw in some consumer law) In high school? I think that’s a bit much. Also don’t think high school kids need to be taught about understanding different types of mortgages. Who has a mortgage before they’re 25-30? ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290/18 "2009-11-20T21:08:46Z")
Basic probability and statistics, as it applies to things like casino games and lotteries. Some common scams, warning signs that something is probably a scam. Recognizing domestic abuse. Emotional/psychological abuse as well as physical. When to run away from a relationship. Recognizing date/acquaintance rape. This will protect both potential victims and people who might not know that having sex with someone while they are passed out drunk is rape. A discussion of state laws regarding age of consent and its possible ramifications should be part of this unit as well. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290/19 "2009-11-20T21:15:49Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > . > > Recognizing domestic abuse. Emotional/psychological abuse as well as physical. When to run away from a relationship. > > Recognizing date/acquaintance rape. This will protect both potential victims and people who might not know that having sex with someone while they are passed out drunk is rape. A discussion of state laws regarding age of consent and its possible ramifications should be part of this unit as well. Excellent suggestions. I’d volunteer to come in and teach that for a day or two if it was offered in my area. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290/20 "2009-11-20T21:33:47Z")
Grocery shopping. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290.md?page=2)