Life Skills

[filkertom]

What was that Heinlein quote again...?

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

Certainly, a Heinlein hero should be able to do those things. ;) Meanwhile, here on 21st-century Earth, we need a slightly different skill set.

But what?

With proposals to start teaching life skills in school comes an obvious question: What would you consider essential life skills? List as few or as many as you want, but keep it to, say, twenty or less. Consider that it should fit into one or two high school semesters.

(h/t Ezra Klein for the link)

Comments

[r-caton.livejournal.com]

Finding a trustworthy bank and making the dosh to put in it?

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Better yours than ours right now, m'friend. ;)

[stormsdotter.livejournal.com]

Of all the things on that list, I don't know how to butcher a hog or any other animal, though I have cleaned fish. *adds to to-do list*

Schools should have mandatory classes where children learn to sew buttons, mend tears, and take in and hem clothes. I'm disgusted at how many men and women will throw away clothes because they don't fit or loose buttons.

I also think self-defense classes should be mandatory. Teach everyone -boys and girls- how to throw a punch, break a hold, and generally survive a fight.

[naomi-de-plume.livejournal.com]

Not to mention if you can sew shut a seam you can sew shut a wound in an emergency.

[tandw.livejournal.com]

Not panicking. My daughter's high school had an interesting way of handling that; they split up sophomore year into half phys ed and half driver's ed, and further split driver's ed into actual "here's how you drive" for a quarter and taught emergency preparedness in the other quarter. It included first aid, CPR, how to use a defibrillator, all wrapped up in an approach that reinforced keeping your head when things around you are coming apart.

[ebenbrooks.livejournal.com]

That's brilliant! I wish my school had done that...

[amazingadrian.livejournal.com]

Teaching life skills in school? I say it's about fucking time! There are too many people out there who are absolute idiots when it comes to life, and the rest of us have to suffer for it.

Essential life skills should include (without being limited to):

Taking care of one's self and others.
Respect and common courtesy.
Effective communication.
Simple everyday maintenance.
Critical thinking. (though I doubt it as this seems to have been phased out of our public school system...)
Simple "hard skills" for work and home.

I think that's about all we need to get past what ails the entitlement generation.

[ginevra007.livejournal.com]

All of these things should first be taught by parents. Many parents are themselves incapable of these things. This is a very sad statement on their own upbringing and not the school system.

The problem is many parents do not want to be parents. They want the schools to be the place where their children learn about morels and ethics and commons sence. But at the same time, they then turn on the teachers who try to instill these qualities in their children. You can't have it both ways. If you want the school system to take over being your child's parent, send them to boarding school and forget them.

Many schools and childcare programs are also trying to get parents more involved with their children. It seems sad to me that we need to teach our parents to be parents.

As to critical thinking, I agree, they no longer teach that in school. What with no child left behind and how they determine if a teacher is any good by how many children can pass the tests they administer, they really are only teaching children to take tests. In college the kids ask, if that isn't going to be on the test why do I have to know it? They want to be spoon fed only what they 'need'.

(I know this is a gross oversimplification, and there are many teachers who are worth their weight in gold, but more and more are having their hands tied when it comes to real teaching. It is a big problem today as is not having enough nurses)

[ziactrice.livejournal.com]

1. Logic and fallacious logic, with specific reference to rheotoric - with real-life examples drawn from everything but especially 1) political campaign speech and symbology, and 2) grocery store marketing.

2. Basic mathematics - addition, subtraction, multiplication, long division, order of operations. Real life examples to be employed: balancing a check book, tracking real cost of a credit card carried debt, and difference between lending rates, with reference to what APR really means.

3. Nutrition - how much is good, how much is not good, with specific reference to fat types and amounts, "empty" calories, and effects of preservatives and pollutants. Also cover basic food handling safety and sanitation, with field trips or a community garden/orchard project.

4. Human integrity and self defense - why you're worthy, even if you are a girl, a different race, mentally handicapped, physically handicapped, etc.

5. Basic health, whatever isn't covered in nutrition - exercise, risk factors, what illegal drugs REALLY do to people - real-life visits by meth addicts suggested, alcoholism - same, safe sex, and crash-course first aid - when to call for help, and what to say, with real-life practicum by visiting police, fire, or 911 operators. Also suicide prevention and issuance of list of helplines and emergency escape plans for untenable situations of abuse or danger role-played.

And those are just the utter basics. Gardening, food preservation, shelter construction, saving and money management, etc. all left for more advanced teaching.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

See, now, given the state of the world, I'd put gardening, etc. first, and the others as advanced topics.

And I'm an optimist.

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

Some 21st century additions to that good list: Use a search engine, send and receive email (including multiple recipients), manage passwords

More forthcoming later, after I do them or see them, or at least have slept some and can think again.

[sweetmusic-27.livejournal.com]

Folks should learn how to: Sew a button, do laundry and dishes without everything coming out smelling like mildew, pack things in boxes and bags and carry heavy ones effectively, use a few aspects of DOS (at least to not be screamingly afraid when faced with a c-prompt), look like you're drinking at a party, set things on fire safely, and swim.

[jenk]

Ohhhhh yeah.

And: Signs of alcohol poisoning and that it can be fatal.

[huskiebear.livejournal.com]

Critical thinking. The seminar I took as a college sophomore taught me more that I use every day than any other class I've ever taken and it's sadly lacking in most (non-fannish) people I meet.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Shrly, u jest. :) :) :)

Seriously. I would start with the Bill of Rights as a good place. You ought to know Robert's Rules of Order, good debate, have an understanding of your neighbor's religion, and how to run a petition drive and a protest, and how to write a basic expository essay and letter to the editor. That covers the First Amendment. You should know basic smallbore rifle safety. that's the Second. Turn the Third on its ear, you should know basic camping. Fourth? Civics, legal procedure, etc. And so on.

I disagree with Heinlein; the world is too big to not specialize somewhat. But one should know basics of how to run a small community, yes. Cook, clean, sew, COMMUNICATE.

[reynardine.livejournal.com]

At the very least, I'd say basic cooking skills and home finance (how to budget, how to handle a bank account, how to responsibly use credit).

These are the kinds of things that ideally should be taught at home, but my folks never got around to teaching me.

My school had a "Horatio Alger" day every year where business leaders came and spoke to different classes about the business world, and that information actually was very helpful when I started working.

[jenk]

A lot of that applies quite well to everyday life, including: Change a diaper, cook a tasty meal, balance accounts, cooperate, act alone, take orders, give orders.

I would add: Explain things kindly to the clueless, handle bullies with Miss Manners-like aplomb, touch-type, mouse, drive, decipher a bus system, discern biases in a piece of writing, trace an email, navigate a phone tree, setup a TiVo or VCR with your new TV, and install Windows.

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

You mean install an operating system. :)

"Thou shalt forever forswear and abjure the vile notion that All The World's A Vax Windows Box." -- Henry Spencer, circa 1980, "The Ten Commandments of Computer Programming", amended by yours truly, circa 1995.

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

A human being should be able to boot up a game, nuke a bag of popcorn, order a pizza, use the "boss button", deny liability, scam a babe, score weed without being ripped off...

Oh, wait. You mean you were serious?

OK, here:

All human beings should be able to:

Be strong enough to carry a standard monitor up and down three flights of stairs.
Have at least five different meals that they can make from scratch.
Approach and converse interesting person, of the appropriate sexual orientation, without scaring them
Drive an automatic transmission
Render basic first aid
Speak at least two languages
Keep a standard budget and balance a checkbook
Invest according to one's risk tolerance
Understand and apply the basics of personal grooming
Be able to defend onesself against an unarmed attacker
Grow or catch one's own food. Everyone should at least know how
Comfort someone undergoing an emotional crisis
Know one's own limits where drugs, alcohol, etc., are concerned
Develop at least one MARKETABLE talent, and know how to market it as well as having the talent itself
Raise a healthy, intelligent child.
Understand and apply one's rights when questioned or arrested by government officials
Tell a story
Write professional and authoritative business-speak in one's native language
Get through a tough neighborhood without being mugged or attacked
Run a meeting


There, that's 20.

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

hey, I thought that first list was pretty useful, although those last two on the first list are things I probably ought to learn just for completeness...

And the next-to-last one on the second list....

I would upgrade a few of the second list. One ideally ought to be able to drive a stick.... and defend oneself against an armed attacker. Accurate return fire is one *hell* of a deterrent.

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

Just a few off my head

Feed yourself properly (Cook good meals, shop for decent food)
Use the Internet (Send email, surf for information)
Use a computer (boot it, operate basic programs)
Surf the internet
Basic House Maintainance (Hammer a nail, drive a screw, basic wiring)
Basic electronic set up (TV, VCR/CVR, Computer)
Check your car status (Oil, tire pressure, tread life)
Know when to follow and know when to lead
Have a sense of humor
Compose a proper business letter (whether sent on paper or electronically)
Speak to a crowd
Do Basic first aid
Understand and pay your bills
Manage your money
Quote a favorite author
Be able to argue a point

[archiver-tim.livejournal.com]

->Compose a proper business letter (whether sent on paper or electronically)

I would expand upon that by applying some old business situation to the electronic office. Such as, if you and boss/co-worker are emailing and the volley count (back and forth) goes over three, it just might be time for face-to-face talking. I also learned some things like when to include your boss as a visible cc on a letter (email), such as sending a report or request outside your line-of-command.

[briansiano.livejournal.com]

A few essential life skills for today.

Write a check and balance a checkbook.
Understand mortgages.
Address a letter and an envelope.
Understand that waiting in line is, frequently, a necessity, and bitching about the wait to others just makes it miserable for everyone.
Be able to accurately summarize a philosophical, political, or religious position that one _disagrees_ with.
Read maps.
Read.
Use mathematics to the level of basic algebra.
An understanding of the scientific method.

Over on Harlan Ellison's web page, someone asked the question "If there was any one gift you could give your children, what would it be?" Harlan's answer was "A 100% reliable bullshit detector."

[tinrat.livejournal.com]

Every city raised teen should spend at least six months (two years, ideally) helping maintain our state and national parks.

[singingpatient.livejournal.com]

and then they should have to wait tables for 3 months and work retail for 3 months, so they know to treat people like people.

[singingpatient.livejournal.com]

teaching life skills in schools? what's next changing diapers, setting bones, buchering hogs,l, comforting the dying in schools?
i'm sorry but when did this happen where parents abdicated all responsibility for their children while simultaneously forbidding the schools to enforce discipline? for every responsibility the parents dump on schools, the schools should be given another inch in latitude for disciplining the children.

[singingpatient.livejournal.com]

anyway whatever you do you have to use a computer. and type.

Actually...

[nimitzbrood.livejournal.com]

...with the economy going to hell in a hand-basket those skills are going to be pretty valuable again in time. ;-)

(Side note: I just suddenly realized that I can't do maybe four things on that list. I'm amazed because I never thought I'd even be able to do that many of them from the original quote.)

Today's skills? I guess it depends on where you are but here are my minimums:

Know how to manage money.
Know how to maintain their own stuff.
Know how to parent a child.
Know how to prevent having a child as best as is possible.
Know how to communicate effectively both with and without emotion.
Know how to read effectively.
Know how to write more than just their signature.
Know how to contain their emotions and when to let them loose.
Know how to have faith in something but be prepared when faith isn't enough.
Know how to think critically.
Know how to defend yourself and others with and without a weapon.
Know when to fight and when not to.
Know how and when to listen.
And know when to talk.
Know how to respect others.
Know how to respect themselves.
Know how to keep themselves healthy.
Know how to love.
know how to be loved.
Know how to swim.
Know how to drive.
Know how to ride a bicycle.
Know how to care for living things.
Know how to care for the dying.
Know that computers are not all powerful.
Know how to conserve everything.
Know when to conserve everything.
Know how to build their own shelter.
Know how to find/grow water/food for themselves or their family.
Know how to appreciate art in whatever form it takes.

And finally:

Know how to do at least one thing that makes their soul fly.

I know I don't know everything on that list but I'm certainly trying. And the list itself is almost certainly missing something.

(Where the hell did this Baz Luhrmann hat on my head come from?? *takes off hat*)

[pandoradeloeste.livejournal.com]

Bring back home economics and shop classes, and make them required for everyone - male, female, and everyone in between. Some sort of civics class where people learn to spot bad logic and biased writing would also be good.

Oh, and sex ed. Real sex ed, not the dangerous-as-all-hell abstinence-only propaganda masquerading as sex ed. Along these lines, everyone should learn exactly what an abortion is - every step of the operation, from the first IV or shot of anesthetic to the last check-up. It's truly amazing how much fuss and nonsense, much of which has very little to do with the internal workings of the woman, revolves around a relatively simple 15-minute procedure, and I think a lot of it has to do with misinformation about the development of the embryo and the nature of the operation itself.

[naomi-de-plume.livejournal.com]

I've never understood why sex ed covers the big scary stuff, like AIDS, but not the common and utterly painful stuff like UTIs. The latter is much more likely to impact a 16 year old and much more easily avoided, and yet completely ignored.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of the old skills are still valid; my own list is a mix of old and new:

1. Plant, tend and grow food crops without aid of farm chemicals, and safely preserve the produce therefrom.
   
2. Perform CPR, basic first aid and triage for minor and major injuries and conditions.
   
3. Purify water
   
4. Read a map, find north and find one's way from place to place (in urban as well as rural settings) without aid of a GPS
   
5. Build simple structures, from bookshelves to shelters, so they won't fall down.
   
6. Make fire.
   
7. Communicate fluently in more than one language
   
8. Listen as much as you talk.
   
9. Work well with people who aren't like you.
   
10. Use the Internet at least as well as the average 15-year-old
    
11. Troubleshoot electronic systems
    
12. Do at least minor plumbing, electrical, mechanical and structural repairs.
    
13. Repair and, if necessary, make, clothing
    
14. Lift/push/move things beyond your personal strength by using simple machines (levers, pulleys, etc.); understand the principle of mechanical advantage
    
15. Calculate - and understand - compound interest
    
16. Solve puzzles.
    
17. Calm yourself, lower your own blood pressure and focus your concentration without resort to pharmaceuticals.
    
18. Resolve conflicts, mediate disputes and persuade others to work collaboratively
    
19. Entertain yourself (and others): Make music, act, compose and recite poetry, juggle, tell stories or jokes.
    
20. Think critically.

I can do most of these at least well enough to know when I've reached my limit of competence, and some of them well enough to teach others how to do them. Gotta work on my Spanish fluency, though.

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

-Cook, clean, sew, and do laundry
-budget and save without going nuts or broke
-Pass up, down, or across the social ladder
-argue or negotiate politely but firmly, talk respectfully to someone who disagrees with you without pretending the disagreement doesn't exist, and control your temper without ignoring it.
-design a scientific experiment (even if you don't want to be a scientist, but might someday want to figure out which sleep schedule works best for you or which food brand tastes better). Track down and read the scientific article that a panicky newspaper article was based on.
-do any 2-3 things that most people pay someone else to do, such as grow a tomato, unclog a sink, or change your car's oil. (The inference that you can later learn other skills rather than outsourcing them follows.)
-basic conversational skills--turn-taking, listening, making a story interesting, figuring out when the other guy is bored, not letting on when you're bored.
-basic first aid and communicating with doctors.

[merseine0613.livejournal.com]

As a former teacher, I have one essential skill that everyone must learn:

Learn HOW to learn.

The rest is gravy.

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

I'll add to that, Why one should learn, and how to think!

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Know how to fall safely. This isn't a dig-- it's something I've been wishing I was taught young.

Learn how to evaluate scientific claims-- this was inspired by the nutrition suggestion. What's considered good nutrition varies from one year to the next.

Learn how to sneak up on elusive ideas (http://www.focusing.org/tae.html).

What to do if you're stopped by the police.

That contracts aren't take it or leave it.

Not to invest in anything you don't understand.

How to tell whether you understand something. (Actually, I'm not sure how to formalize that one, but it would be useful.)

Time management.

There is no art police. Nothing awful will happen if you make bad art.

[pyrephox.livejournal.com]

Speaking as someone working in the high schools right now, and from what I see:

Budgeting and personal finance.

Basic cooking and shopping skills (including what to buy if you don't have a fridge or regular power).

Basic internet safety (/particularly/ in dealing with Facebook and other social networking sites).

Defensive Driving.

And a general introduction to 'here's how you set up an adult life', including dealing with power/water/phone companies, rent and deposits, time management, and so forth.

[tomreedtoon.livejournal.com]

Do you know what most of your suggestions remind me?

They're things that USED to be taught in high schools. Or that you could learn as electives, if you took them.

I learned typing and acting in summer school - junior high and high school summer school - as well as re-taking certain classes to get a better grade. Those kind of classes, and the teachers and equipment that allowed them to be taught, have been heavily cut over the last few decades.

Maybe what this nation needs is to find a way to fund schools for equipment. And maybe find some way to get people beyond the teaching profession, like professionals in various fields, to teach in schools. (Give such pro's rebates on their taxes for service to schools, or something.)

CIVICS.

[msgeek.livejournal.com]

We need to start teaching civics again. And we shouldn't stop at High School...it should be part and parcel of the curriculum (age-appropriate, of course) from K all the way through 12.

I also think a certain amount of what used to be called Home Economics (perhaps it should be called Household Management or Independent Living now) should be taught to every student regardless of gender.

And finally: REALITY-BASED SEX ED. This is going to be rough to get through, and in California parents can opt their kids out of it. Also there are economic reasons why discredited "Abstinence Only" sex ed is the only type some teens get: the Feds will only fund "Abstinence Only." That needs to be changed, because STD and teen pregnancy rates are RISING.

[bryanp.livejournal.com]

Pretty much everything I would suggest has already been mentioned by previous posters.

It does amaze me what some people don't learn to do. I stopped to help a young couple stranded on the side of the interstate in the Middle of Nowhere. They had a flat tire. They had a spare. Neither of them had any idea of how to change a tire. I conducted a class that day. It took a lot longer than it should have, but they both left knowing how to change a tire safely.

One thing I'd add that many people need to be able to do: they should be able to understand their own weaknesses and learn to either work on them or accept help from others who are stronger in those areas.

I'll give you one better

[capplor.livejournal.com]

A widow in a church I went to did not know how to put air IN her tire, because her husband had always done that stuff.