I have babysat many times. My first thought is usually about the money that I will earn for taking care of the kids. Usually the kids I babysit are very well behaved. Except for a more recent experience. I babysat a kid and he was very hyper and could not sit still for anything. He was trying to throw his toys across the room, and once it was bedtime, he refused to go to bed. I had never taken care of a kid who I had needed to tell them no or to stop doing something. However, this experience helped me learn just how important it is to learn to be a parent because many parents have to go through this every day.
That is why I think schools should be required to teach important skills like parenting. Many adults lack basic skills solely because they never had the chance to learn them. The real world can become a less scary place if students are learning things that can help them function better by themselves.
This leaves graduates unaware of how to function independently in the real world. This can imply the question of, “Why are these skills not being taught in schools?” And there are a number of reasons for how to answer this. Yet, I feel many schools are not taking the initiative in teaching their students these skills.
The most basic, yet, the most overlooked skill not being taught, especially for me, is how to cook. I have never been taught to cook, either by my parents or by my school. At one point or another in a person’s life, they will have to cook for themselves. Many people do not realize how crucial it is to be able to cook. On top of just cooking for yourself eventually, the need to know skills like cooking could improve a student’s college experience. Freshman Sophia Goldsmith, has expressed her thoughts on how college could look different if they had the household skills they need.
“I think that a lot of learning curves that are often a difficulty in college freshmen can be overcome by learning those skills as a high schooler,” Goldsmith said.
Another skill that I think is greatly needed is child care. Whether it’s teaching children or parenting them, this is a critical skill for everyone. Learning how to take care of another person is so important and teaches students teamwork, and can also help their individual growth. Child development classes, along with nutrition classes, can really help students think outside the box, and help them to expand their knowledge and how they would normally look at a situation. Kathryn McGuire, a FACS teacher explained why she believes teaching high schoolers life skills is critical.
“Many students are lacking in basic common sense and basic life skills,” McGuire said. “The probability of students procreating and having their own families is going to be huge so classes like Child Development 1 are huge for teaching the skills needed.”
Learning skills like this are extremely important for people who want to have their own family one day. Sophomore Mia Gambino believes that on top of being able to take care of a family, you must be able to take care of yourself just as well.
“I think that students should learn how to take care of themselves well before trying to take care of an entire family,” Gambino said.
Gambino thinks that it is more important to learn to take care of yourself before you can take care of other people. If you cannot care for yourself it will be extremely difficult to care for multiple other people that have different needs than you do.
I think most students are lacking the skills that they need to live a daily life without the stress of how to do simple things. Many skills such as cooking and child care are not being taught to students. In my opinion, schools should be teaching students how to take care of themselves so they can live their best lives after graduation, and not be held back because of the lack of knowledge of these skills. Again, my babysitting experiences have taught me so many valuable skills that I will need in the future, it’s helped me learn how to respond to a child’s behavior, and the best way to handle it.
