# What should schools be teaching? **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-schools-be-teaching/1022754 **Category:** Great Debates **Created:** [September 4, 2025, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-schools-be-teaching/1022754 "2025-09-04T17:10:30Z") **Posts on this page:** 1 **Showing post:** 50
### Author: ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines) #### Post date: [September 5, 2025, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-schools-be-teaching/1022754/50 "2025-09-05T17:26:00Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > Poor kids. Adults already have to spend so much time at work, we could at least let children and teens have more time for themselves. I think we underestimate how many important skills are learned outside school, too. I mean, we don’t have to disagree, but if we want to teach more, it’s better to have more time than _further_ throwing kids behind the bus if they aren’t keeping up with the artificial time frame. And I did say either/or. While it varies dramatically from state to state and accounts for different climates, a 10-12 week summer break seems to be more or less the average. And in the US there are a lot of concerns about [Summer Learning Loss](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_learning_loss) (though agreed, there does have to be some life-fun-growing balance) given that length of time. Again, I feel 6-8 weeks would be better, and I’ve seen suggestions for 4 (though often with an additional one week break like spring break stuck in there). > [@DemonTree](#): > > Teaching anything touching on the culture war is now about as controversial as teaching religion in school, so yeah, this is a strike against adding subjects like critical thinking to the curriculum (quite apart from the fact no one actually knows how to teach it). But it wouldn’t be an issue for adding a financial management course, would it? I disagree, current movements are totally ON teaching Religion and social grievance while pushing factual information out of school. History, nope, in certain states, you have to teach various “Lost Cause” Civil War philosophies, and can’t mention how bad a slave’s life was, or the genocide of the native population, and of course, teaching “recent” history (anything in the last 40ish years normally) has almost always been ignored. Science? Teach Evolution? Oh, nope, it’s just a theory, and creationism has to be given equal time. In fact, one of the reasons I think English Lit. is often ancient tomes is because they’ve been approved, and getting any agreement on newer stuff is a major challenge. Sure, _finance_ could conceivably be taught without _as much_ Religious grievance baked in, but there are plenty of sects that are becoming MUCH more mainstream that women, for example, need to be tutored in classic female roles about taking care of house, spouse, and kids, and have no need of such skills. A trend, that if anything, is accelerating _right now_. And of course, such things as this long thread: > [@They are trying it again- Ten Commandments](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-are-trying-it-again-ten-commandments/1003134): > > [https://thehill.com/homenews/education/4730255-louisiana-require-ten-commandments-classrooms/](https://thehill.com/homenews/education/4730255-louisiana-require-ten-commandments-classrooms/) Louisiana became the first state in the nation to require the Ten Commandments be displayed in public school classrooms. Gov. [Jeff Landry](https://thehill.com/people/jeff-landry/)(R) signed the Republican-led bill Wednesday that got some bipartisan support in the Louisiana Senate to display the Ten Commandments in all public elementary and high school classes. The Courts have made it clear- you can not do this. EXCEPT as part of a historica… Show exactly what the intent is for the future of our schools, and I doubt there’s any reasonable assumption of good faith in the fig-leaf they used to pass it. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-schools-be-teaching/1022754)._