Reader's views: Useful schooling

Life is complicated. It starts before we’re ready, it continues while we’re still trying to figure out the point of it. And it ends long before we’ve worked out just what to do. It’s vital then that young people prepare for that journey as soon as they can. We’re lucky because there is a brief, special time in their lives when they are meant to do just that – school.

For a few short years, our children are our captive audience. We are able to impart whatever knowledge we think will benefit them at some point of their lives. This is where the school system fails us. Because we try to make school do a lot of other things at the same time.

We want schools to act as cheap childcare centers to keep our children occupied while the adults are occupied. So, we start school days early and stretch them throughout the day, even when we don’t really need to. We also think our schools should separate clever kids from average kids. So we teach them fiendishly complicated subjects like calculus and chemistry in order to see which kids are 2.3 percent better than their peers at those subjects. Apart from mathematician and chemists, very few of us have any use for those subjects in the years ahead.

If we agree that the function of education is to prepare us for life, then there is very little time to waste. We know that before long, our children will become bored, disillusioned, and far too large to intimidate. So, while we can, we ought to concentrate on teaching them really useful things. Here is what I think our schools should teach.

Courtesy – The sooner our young people learn this, the better. Politeness and consideration are the hallmarks of civilization. In any case, a lot more can be accomplished by a smile and good manners than with a PhD.

Managing  Money – Like it or not, for most of us, our adult lives will be consumed by the struggle for this. It baffles me that we don’t make an effort to teach our young people the rudiments of managing it. Is borrowing on a credit card a good thing? Should you take a second mortgage if you have no income? How do you live within your means? No one should be expected to pick this up after leaving school (or worse, after getting a job). We have a responsibility to teach our young people this basic skill from the outset.

Critical Thinking – Today, we’re swamped by fact and opinion. There’s always a temptation to accept something we are told, espcially if it’s well-crafted, especially if it’s something we agree with. But that’s not what educated people do. Educated people are rational and reasonable. They look at facts and they apply logic. If our schools teach nothing else, they should at least teach critical thinking.

Health – Kids should learn to take care of their bodies. They should know that if they eat junk, they will become fat and unhealthy. They should be very clear about what happens to their bodies when they drink, or smoke, or take drugs. They should know how people become pregnant. That’s crucial when they enter puberty, and beyond. They really shouldn’t have to learn about sex from the latest rap video.

Society – The idea here is that all of us are part of something much bigger. We have rights and responsiblities. We ought to understand what they are, and why they are that way. We have to know a little bit of our immediate history and geography, because we need to have a context in which to relate to the people around us.

How will we test students on these subjects? We can’t. How then will we know they are learning? We won’t. At least not immediately. But that’s not a reason to avoid teaching important topics. We don’t close down churches, mosques and temples just because we’re not sure that the congregation is paying attention. We keep at it, because we can’t afford not to.

Are these subjects too “low-brow”? Perhaps. Don’t get me wrong: science and literature are important. There will always be a place in the world for quantom physicists and Shakespearean scholars. But our schools cannot be designed to enable the best and the brightest to excel. They must also equip the weakest among us to survive. I can’t think of a more noble purpose for our schools than for them to spend every moment they have telling  this to our kids: “This is life, this is what you are going to face, and this is how you deal with it.” Everything else is superfluity.