# 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:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290/41 "2009-11-22T18:52:00Z")
Some of these ideas… man. Balancing a checkbook? I don’t even HAVE a checkbook. Changing oil? Sure, I know how to do that; I pay a grease monkey $40 and it’s done. Hanging drywall, well, that’s useful, but why not name 100 other home repair/renovation skills? How about changing a sink? Replacing a toilet seal? Installing a light fixture? _Computer security?_ That’ll be useful for all of three years. Guys, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. All the blather about how you want to teach critical thinking isn’t going to make it happen. Effort cannot be taught. ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290/42 "2009-11-22T19:43:46Z")
> [@kombatminipig](#): > > Different types of fires, fire extinguishers and how to use them. Believe it or not, we covered this in ordinary, non- **Sitnam** high school. > [@Oakminster](#): > > Who has a mortgage before they’re 25-30? I did, and I was neither exceptionally wealthy nor privileged. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290/43 "2009-11-23T01:55:42Z")
\*Balancing a checkbook \*Getting a loan / understanding different mortgages _Credit Card interest rates Budgeting Insurance - include renter’s vs tenant’s insurance, replacement value vs actual value Buying a car, car insurance Consumer law Doing your taxes Changing a car tire The importance of getting the oil changed in your car Patching holes Power tools Interviewing/resumes Compare and contrast policies of two candidates in an election All these are important. I had a personal finance class in high school which covered all the financial stuff above. It was extremely valuable. I had another class called business law, which covered basic personal and business law: contracts,torts, lawsuits, and criminal law_, \*which was also extremely beneficial. Comparing candidates is good, but how are you going to fit all that in? You have too much on the plate. I think it’s very important, though. ---
**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 23, 2009, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290/44 "2009-11-23T20:24:33Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > _Computer security?_ That’ll be useful for all of three years. Specific programs, yes. General principles, like “don’t run a program unless you know what it’s supposed to do”, or “don’t share passwords”, those would last longer. And a lot of people [don’t know basic info like how bad it is to share passwords](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3639679.stm). > [@](#): > > Guys, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. All the blather about how you want to teach critical thinking isn’t going to make it happen. Effort cannot be taught. But some useful techniques for evaluating an argument or a story can. Tools for a “baloney detection kit”, as Carl Sagan once called them. Of course, nothing is going to force someone to think critically if they really don’t want to. But the same is true of, say, algebra- it’s no good to someone who won’t use it. That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be taught. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-skills-101-at-sitnam-high-school/518290.md?page=2)