Bills, saving money, cooking and insurance.

Schools offer academic classes but have you ever thought to yourself, “Why am I learning this? I’m not going to use this in real life.” Well, what if they did offer classes to use when you’re out on your own?

Most people argue that the parents should teach their kids the life skills they need, but, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 19.7 million children grow up without a parent figure as of 2017. What are the children without that parent figure gonna do when they’re suddenly out of school and don’t know what to do? Even students that do have parent figures would have a great benefit from learning life skills.

I know that school academics are important to know, but life skills need to be known, too. Because there are kids out there who don’t have anyone else to teach them how to survive in the world makes it a need for there to be some type of resource available to them. We have plenty of other selective classes. So why couldn’t we create that resource for not only those students but for all students interested? 

Everyone, every day handles money; it’s how our world functions. But we’re taught math and how to count money but never taught how to save money, manage bills, taxes, how to buy a house or how to get a job. If you’re out on your own, you might not be able to afford or not think it’s worth the money to go to the doctor, so if you knew how to use a first aid kit you could easily treat yourself and not face a hundred dollar bill or let the wound get infected, whether that be poison ivy, a burn, rash, or wound. 

 Teenagers can’t wait to drive but as soon as they get their license they’ll need to know how to care for the car. We’re taught history but never taught how to change our car’s tires or oil or what to do when your car overheats.  

Schools wouldn’t even have to make an entire class dedicated to life skills. Different classes could each include a unit on life skills that go with their subject or something you just have to know for the real world. We can compromise with this so no classes will be cut but students could still get the life skills they need. 

Math class can include a unit on car payments, managing bills, saving money and taxes. Science class can include a unit on first aid, infections, and symptoms of mental health. English class can include cursive, filling out checks, how to get/apply for jobs and communication skills. Drivers ed can include how to fix cars.

These units don’t have to be all separate; they could include all of these within their classrooms for a short unit. The fact they will without a doubt use these lessons all throughout their lives is huge. So I hope soon we can work to have those units in the near future.