Do not teach in school: Things that have not been explained to us, but in vain
alexander savina
On September 1, everyone reacts differently: someone remembers the school with warmth, and someone every time rejoices that everything is finally in the past. But at least once everyone absolutely wondered if the knowledge we are given in school is necessary: is it really important to remember in what sequence the rulers succeeded each other in the era of palace coups and how exactly photosynthesis takes place? But many would like the school to teach them really useful things (instead of algebra, many of us would like to master budget management, for example) - we decided to think about what it would be worth adding to the school curriculum.
Sex education
We have repeatedly told about why sex education in schools is necessary and why it should not be afraid of, and we are ready to repeat it endlessly. If at school we were told about the principle of consent, boundaries, sexual integrity, body image, pregnancy, contraception and sexually transmitted infections, many problems (at least HIV epidemics in the country and a huge number of abortions as a means of "contraception") it would be avoided.
Financial literacy
Yes, the school has economics lessons, but sometimes it seems that they helped only those who later entered the economics department. And if we still understand the difference between macroeconomics and microeconomics, then what to do with our own finances for most of us is a mystery (can you understand the news about the reorganization of Otkrytie bank without a cheat sheet?). If at school they were told how to manage the family budget, take care of their own savings and which bank to choose in order to receive benefits, and the deferred would not burn, we would probably have matured earlier.
Fight against bureaucracy
Sometimes it seems that the fight against bureaucracy is a lesson that you have to spend all your life studying, but it would be great if we left school partly ready for battle. How to take a meter reading (and what to do if you forget to do this for several months in a row)? How to register for "State Services"? How to fill out a form for international passport? How to understand the receipt for rent, what do the mysterious abbreviations HVS DPU and GVS DPU mean and how to turn off the useless radio point? What documents are needed to get to the hospital and get a pension? Everything has to learn independently.
The rhetoric and art of debating
If you have ever participated in a heated discussion on Facebook (read, srache), you understand what we are talking about. Going outside the school, we suddenly find that almost no one around is able to argue - and instead of productive conversation, people prefer to assert themselves or discharge emotionally, completely not listening to the interlocutor. It would not hurt us all to learn how to participate in debates - but at the same time to speak in public so that presentations to colleagues do not turn into a nightmare.
Sport as a pleasure
If you belong to that happy group of people who have never had any problems with sports, and each gym class brings only joy, you are lucky - but, unfortunately, not everyone can boast about it. The practice of grading for whether you managed to jump a certain number of centimeters, run a kilometer in a certain time, or climb a rope, completely beat off many of our students' love for training. Unfortunately, no one at school says that sport is first of all fun and enjoyable, and it’s not at all necessary to fit in with the standards in order to enjoy it.
Social skills and the ability to respect others
It is assumed that the school should teach us to interact with other people (we are all the time in a team!), But in practice we get completely different skills - how to cope with bullying (and not become its victim) and how less to stand out so that school years will pass more calm. I would like to teach the school to respect the individuality and opinion of others instead, even if we categorically disagree with him - unfortunately, the lessons of the Fundamentals of Secular Ethics do not help much.
Skills to help survive
Of course, this item does not apply to academic knowledge - but it is definitely needed for later life, even if you do not plan to leave the city. You never know when you suddenly need to make a fire or provide first aid - and it’s good if they explained to you in life safety lessons at least how arterial bleeding differs from venous bleeding. From school lessons, we remember perhaps that the moss grows on the north side of the tree - but what to do with this knowledge is absolutely incomprehensible. That's how we live.
Self defense
We want very much that self-defense skills are not useful to anyone and never, but, unfortunately, often life is different. A couple of self-defense lessons or Krav Maga instead of the usual physical culture would not hurt anyone - at least in order to just feel more confident.
Basic knowledge of psychology
If we have learned in half the knowledge about our body and health (although we sometimes try to cure cold with miracle remedies), then it is more and more difficult with psychological health. Psychological disorders are still stigmatized, so many people are afraid to talk about what has happened to depression, BAR, and other problems. It would be great if the next generation treated this issue differently and understood that it is not a shame or fear to contact a psychotherapist - we all need help from time to time.
Time management
It was easier to cope with the flow of affairs at school - even if you are used to staying late with your lessons, you could be sure that at least during the day there is a certainty in life: a clear timetable and a certain amount of lessons in the time strictly allotted for them. With age it became more difficult: the schedule was over and the working day into blocks had to be divided independently. It would be nice to teach us this before.
Understand the political environment
Of course, we had social science lessons, and we imagine that there are three branches of government in the country - but now it sounds just as boring as it is at school. It would be much better if we were taught to navigate in a political environment and critically evaluate the authorities and candidates for it — perhaps, we would then vote more responsibly.
Programming
In 2017 it became clear that without coding knowledge today is about the same as without knowledge of English: it is theoretically possible, but it is better to know at least something, even if you are not a programmer and not a translator. At a time when most of our editorial staff graduated from school, it was possible to learn computer science lessons except the basics of QBasic (frankly, not the most useful knowledge) and how to use Word - everything that is newer has to be taught independently.
Study
The notorious "learn to learn" is probably the most useful skill that we have to take out of school, but for some reason we cannot stand. In the era of Google, it seems that we can easily find anything - but we are completely lost when we don’t have the necessary information on the Internet, and we don’t treat critically what is. On September 1, we wish you to master these skills on your own - even after school or in spite of it.