The Student News Site of Marshfield High School

The Marshfield Times

The Student News Site of Marshfield High School

The Marshfield Times

The Student News Site of Marshfield High School

The Marshfield Times

Schools Should Teach Applicable Skills

The Pirate volleyball team played North Bend at home on Oct. 3.

According to head coach Tammie Montiel, they had high hopes of winning and felt ready.

DSC_0002There are many skills in life that are necessary for success. However, the path to attaining these abilities is not always accessible to the average person. A large quantity of the education received in high school is extraneous, and much valuable information is missing in the current curricula when it comes to skills necessary in the real world. Many practical electives have been cut due to raised academic standards and a lack of funding. Therefore, schools should provide students with classes that will prepare students for the various obstacles of life before preparing them for college. To be a successful human being in today’s society, with or without a formal education, one must have general repair, etiquette and money management skills.
It is important for students to understand how to respectfully behave in social situations, ranging from concerts to business meetings. In said situations, it is important to know how to conduct oneself so as not to disrespect or offend others. Although it may seem like people already know how to handle themselves, the truth is, they do not. To anyone performing at a concert or a similar event, the lack of focus can be offensive to the performers. Likewise, in a meeting, phones are used for recreational use and conversations are had between those attending, thus showing disrespect to whoever is speaking. In a classroom scenario, anyone using a phone or talking to a classmate are simply told to stop, there are no real consequences and no lessons learned.  This is not to say that educators should be more strict, but that it should be their duty to teach students the importance of their demands.

It is common for minor maintenance to be required in one’s home or on one’s automobile. Whether it is a hole in the drywall or a much-needed oil change, there are tasks which need doing; however, many lack the knowledge required to fix such things. The majority of house and vehicle problems one will encounter throughout life are quite simple to solve. Students may not be presented with opportunities to learn the basic skills required to remedy these issues at their homes and should be given said opportunities through school. Being able to repair broken utilities, such as a toilet, or being able to replace sparkplugs in a car could save someone from unnecessary hassle and expenses.

Knowing one’s financial standing is vital to maintaining success. While math programs within the school system reach very advanced levels, students lose out on math skills which will be needed further in life. These skills include calculating taxes and deductions and understanding when and how to invest. By possessing these skills, students can greatly increase their chances of monetary stability, as they will not have to spend money so others will do taxes for them and they will learn to make wise investments, further expanding their money supply. Also, schools should show students how to balance a checkbook and keep accurate logs of their spending.

Being ready for college and being ready for life are two very separate concepts. Many students seem to believe that what is learned in high school is going to benefit them into adulthood. Not all of the classes offered in school are useless or impractical; there simply are not enough venues for students to walk in order to learn skills useful in their adult lives. Curricula should be designed to form a path into the real world before they form a path into the world of academia.

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Schools Should Teach Applicable Skills