Have you ever encountered a situation or problem where you wish you’d been taught what to do? Whether it’s how to pay your taxes or maybe even how to iron your clothes. Whatever the problem its evident that the academic subjects taught at school can only get you so far in life and the basic things just aren’t being taught.
School is a home for education and hard work. It’s were students are able to expand their learning and skills to prepare them for the future. The road to adulthood is hard, and while an academic education which students are spending years learning can provide you with English, Maths and the perfect skills for your dream jobs the basic things just aren’t being taught to enable you to live independently. A variety of life lessons should be taught to children at school including taxes, mortgages, debts, maintenance, cooking, self-defence and many other important skills. I was recently able to talk to Nivaa Selvakumaran, a Year 12 student who told me: “I think we aren’t being taught enough at school. The other day I was extremely upset about hearing about a little girl who was sexually assaulted on her way to school. That could have been me or my sister and I’m glad the girl is ok. If I was in that situation, I wouldn’t know what to do, it’s made me feel unsafe now”
How are we supposed to feel safe walking down a street or growing up knowing full well we haven’t got a clue about life or how to take care of ourselves? Yes, we can tell you how Mr Birling is presented as arrogant in the play An Inspector Calls or how to work out the area of a parallelogram but what we can’t do is buy a house.
On the contrary, it can be argued that it’s the parent’s job to teach their children how to handle life however not everyone has their parents to ask. Every family is different and not every child will have this opportunity which is why I see it fit that just one compulsory lesson a week should be to teach children the essentials. In parallel to my belief, Nivaa then went on to tell me her idea as well: “I believe that once a year, a day of school should be taken to teach children from years 7-9 self-defence and what to do in certain situations”. Teaching children from a young age how to deal with the real world will build character and confidence from early years helping the child to gain more independence and self-awareness. Teaching all these skills, whether it to be with safety or money, will be a huge eye opener to what the ‘big bad world’ is really like.
Academic skills taught to us is used only in our childhood. Students drop the subjects they aren’t interested in and forgot all about the skills taught. On the other hand, life is an ever going cycle that we all live through which is why it’s essential that more should be taught in schools to prepare us for the extreme.
