You spend your adolescent years lugging around back-breaking textbooks full of complicated math concepts, everything from the periodic table to calculating gravitational pull. But then you graduate, become an adult and realize there's a ton of stuff that just can't be taught with a textbook -- and, well, adulting is kind of hard.
There are bills to pay, difficult people to deal with and assets to manage.
We'd never say any sort of knowledge is useless, but we can't help but think there are some things they forgot to teach us in school when we were kids. We asked our Post-50 Facebook friends what they wish they'd learned in school and they shared quite a bit. Let's face it, there aren't many times in life when you'll use the Pythagorean Theorem.
1. How to file your taxes.
Heck, maybe they should start by telling you that you need to file them. Period.
"How to pay taxes. What taxes are. How to balance a check book. How to adult in general." -- Hunter DeChamplain.
2. How to navigate the world of office politics.
Maybe our language arts class should include a mandatory reading of Machiavelli's "The Prince."
"How to handle office politics-- something to learn in college for sure!" -- Lisa Trei.
3. How to build credit.
Someone seriously should have warned you about opening every store credit card account on your 18th birthday. School debt is bad enough, you don't need credit card debt with a high APR on top of that.
"Credit. I had to clue what it was and what it would mean to my life." -- Jackie Elliott Crowson.
4. How to be confident in yourself.
"I had very low self-esteem and therapy was way too expensive for a '60s teen, so definitely some life skills should be taught." -- -- Tanya Tressler.
5. How to maintain your car.
You can save money in the short and long haul by learning how to look after your car and keep it running smoothly. Oh, and that oil changes are not optional. But most importantly, life throws flat tires at us all at one time or another. Instead of waiting for the auto association to come bail you out, everyone really ought to know how to put on a spare.
6. How to manage your money.
"Financial intelligence. Only learnt that as an adult. Should be a core subject." -- Ali Davies.
7. How to cook.
Eating out gets expensive. Microwave dinners get old. Don't put metal in a microwave.
"High school should teach a one year course on basic life skills... how to cook, etc." -- Phil Kloer.
8. How to deal with breakups.
This would be a tough course to teach, but we should be equipping young people with the tools to move on from failure and heartbreak.
"What I think every school should teach is anger management and how to deal with the end of relationships." -- Barbara Senftleber.
9. How to clean.
Mom and dad won't always be around to pick up after you. Everyone could use a crash course in doing laundry -- if for no other reason than to make sure you don't ever put a red shirt in with the whites. Or what about how often you should be washing your sheets? Or how to get stains out of a rug? All important stuff.
What do you think? What else do you wish they taught kids in school?
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