By Amelia Rogers-Neubarth

All students go to school for roughly six hours a day. A key component of life skills is missing within the educational tools taught daily at school. These life skills, become very influential later on. 

   For example, many schools in Florida do not offer any form of culinary classes, like Ponte Vedra High School.  After high school and moving on to college requires cooking and preparing meals regularly. Many students aren’t as educated in this skill as when schools provided it as a class to learn how to cook and construct a meal. Learning how to make nutritious meals saves money as opposed to eating out, and creates a healthier lifestyle.  Focusing on nutrition maintains a stronger immune system to set you up for success. Doing this would provide a more successful future for many students once they become independent.  

   Another good skill that is not taught regularly at schools is first aid. This is very important to know in case of emergencies. The basic knowledge of properly cleaning wounds could come in handy in many situations. CPR is another aspect of this that can help save a life. It is good to know how to help friends, family or anyone in need. According to Emergency First Response, “Having this knowledge of first aid makes you more aware of your own health and alert to potential hazards posed by your surroundings.” This skill can ensure safety which is always something to value.  

   Money is an important factor of life to everyone. Not enough about how teenagers should use money is taught in high school. This skill is not ever tested which is why students aren’t being taught how to correctly use and save money. Once teenagers become independent money is valuable in everyday life, making it a need to be aware of the proper usage. From the Financial Educators Council, they teach that high school is the perfect time to learn personal finance skills, they would be able to quickly use their knowledge in the real world. More success could be obtained during early adulthood by saving money earlier in life from learning about it. With a required financial literacy class now being introduced students will be able to obtain this useful skill. Luckily it has now been passed as a requirement to receive a high school diploma and graduate in Florida. 

   A very valuable life skill is also the ability to communicate. This is especially important when speaking with adults. Many teenagers in this generation need their parents to assist them with emails to teachers or other authority figures. It also applies to phone calls. Teenagers aren’t used to having certain phone conversations and may immediately ask for their parents’ help in responding. Reasons for this may be teens getting distracted or not actively listening to who is speaking to provide a well thought out response. It may also be since on phone calls there is a lack of social queues leading to misunderstandings. Some may also use their phone to avoid interacting with people, weakening their communication skills even further. Another misunderstanding when communicating over the phone can be tone. That can be overlooked when speaking virtually when it can have a large impact on the situation. Some knowledge of this skill could be very beneficial to teenagers for school, jobs, and can help with the college process. 

   Applying for jobs could be another useful concept to be taught. Some teachers may help with references and academic achievements, but no one class prepares students for this task. The skills that must be performed are acquired indirectly from school. For example, students have learned how to answer questions which a person would encounter for an interview. Other aspects of applying for a job aren’t as straightforwardly covered. Unless enrolled in a business or marketing class, there isn’t a teacher step-by-step showing how to build a resume. A resume is important for jobs as well as colleges and would be helpful to be guided through. Knowing the basic social queues of speaking with the correct tone and making eye contact or more qualities help present yourself best when looking for a job. A class with mock interviews would not only better the chance of getting a job but overall widen social skills.  

   A final value many have, especially adults, is manners. From a young age children should learn proper manners. Usually, parents enforce the manners they want their child to show but a better way would be to have a class from an early age teaching all the basic ones. They could learn all the basic table manners as well as etiquette in a public setting. Consequences of poor manners in children according to blogs.unib.org include this problem hinders the socialization problem of children because it prevents them from establishing positive relationships with other children or adults. As a result, they may be rejected or isolated. Bad manners have also been proven to affect a child’s school performance as it impairs their attention span, motivation, and interest in learning. Depending on your household, parents can direct this which is best to do so early on for the most adequate results. Some may be stricter than others, but overall manners will help with so many other real-world situations. Later in life it can lead to discipline problems if not educated right. Schools should be helping with this with assistance from parents, ensuring these manners are kept up regularly. 

Graphic: Made by Ryder Navarra