Life skills in schools?

A new college student, living all on his own, ready to learn for his career. Yet, he can’t seem to be able to take care of himself, almost as if he needs assistance just to survive on his own. He doesn’t know what to do when he’s sick, he doesn’t know how to cook himself a meal, He can’t fix that bed that’s been broken for months.

This explains the problems that school systems have these days, they don’t teach any life skills. Should schools be required to focus more on life skills, rather than just academics, like a “ Cooking Class” or a “ Building Class” or something like that? The young, this is the most crucial time for learning in anyones entire lifetime. For somebody’s future, someone must learn all of their academics, to help them in life, they also need to know how to cook, how to build, how to use the life skills they need for their future. Sure, a student can grow up to be a very smart, and very successful person. They could have their dream job, and have a lot of money. However, what if that student doesn’t know how to take care of himself? What if he doesn’t know how to cook when he is in college, maybe they won’t know a special trick to help them clean their house.

One day they might have to build or fix something, it would be very bothersome if they had no clue of what to do. They might want to have a family, but would have no idea how to support their family. These are big problems with students growing up these days. Schools used to teach them how to cook, how to sew, how to care for a child. Students nowadays should be learning these life skills, because there won’t always be someone to care for them. According to a recent survey sent around middle schoolers in Massachusetts, 80% of the students said “ Yes, we should” and 20% of the students said “ I kind of think we should” Nobody had answered “ No” to the question.

A student who remains anonymous responded “ Yes, I think this because all though the academic classes are important, we still need to learn how to take care of ourselves. Math, ELA, S. S, and Science, will not make us food or help us build things that we need for our houses.” An amazing explanation here, summarizes the entire problem with a nice, short answer. This proves that ALL schools should be required to focus more on life skills, rather than just academics.

According to an article, “ Critical thinking is an ability to analyse information and experiences in an objective manner. Critical thinking can contribute to health by helping us to recognise and assess the factors that influence attitudes and behaviour, such as values, peer pressure, and the media.” In conclusion, what you should do now is try to convince schools to incorporate life skills into their schools. The government should mandate life skills into schools. Students need to be able to take care of themselves, it will help them grow up to be better people.

Citations Rothman, A. I. “ Health Education for Children and Adolescents.” Review of Educational Research 51. 1 (1981): 85-100.

Web. 13 Feb. 2015. .