Technolandy

Day 154 (of 2024/25) I love clickbait like this: 18 Basic Life Skills Schools Don’t Teach Anymore

Let’s take a look at this ‘article’ about the remarkable transformation education has undergone…spoiler: more of a wish-it-was than ‘actuallities’  https://www.msn.com/en-ca/lifestyle/lifestylegeneral/18-basic-life-skills-schools-don-t-teach-anymore/ss-AA1yEUlY?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=d24b434f4ac84a94a72a408d273d5c85&ei=72#image=1

1. Basic Home Repairs – in a real estate desert, why worry about home repairs when the landlord needs to take that responsibility? Leave home repairs as an elective for those with generational wealth.
2. Financial Literacy – money management? Based on which socioeconomic strategy – avoid payday loans vs how to hide funds from tax responsibilities? There’s the gap we need to identify better…
3. Cooking and Meal Planning – gotta remember to also be culturally responsible as to the different menus to practice – cuz ‘cost-effective’ and ‘healthy’ do not often meet together when making meals… and not be so ‘middle class’ oriented…  I’m not eating a hummus wrap… but I did like our making tea during home ec class when I was in secondary school!
4. Time Management – okay, I’ll raise my hand and point out that this can too easily be absorbed as a factory-model remnant… I’m much more accepting of -ish times… I hated the year “we” were told that to focus on lates, we were closing locked doors at the bell… I did make a bit of a game of it and was gentle on the students, but a minute or so late… whatever… and even for meetings, I am much more encouraging of starting and stopping ‘around’ the hour rather than at the :00s. Not making me popular, but if we are ‘being respectful of time’ we ought to be broadly respectful… not narrowly enforcing…
5. Basic Car Maintenance – new marker for ‘rural kids’ (great recent video of a rural kid carefully touching the wire at a sports arena… testing if it’s electric… I get it!) and less so for urbanites – even my youngest who LOVES driving… transits very effectively in the city. I still support (and can do) checking levels; change a tire; but cars are getting more complicated and will move to a subscription (extended lease) model in the near future anyways…
6. Critical Thinking – one of our provinces Core Competencies… so we are doing this
7. Communication Skills  – one of our provinces Core Competencies… so we are doing this
8. Sewing and Basic Clothing Repair – Good with this one; though the trend of some companies selling ‘disposable clothes’ mean the repairs are definitely going to be limited… but I learned how to do basic fixes, as did my kids… so I think our province is still covering this one
9. Gardening and Food Production – just a little elitist thinking that everyone has property space to run their own little food sanctuary. “Understanding how to grow and maintain a garden was once a standard part of education’?? Please cite your sources where this was the normal everyday/season experience. 
10. Digital and Privacy Security – No matter how much this is covered, it’s not enough – it’s also a double edged sword as the content that we often do sign up for based around security can create scenarios where that information is then used against us… not to say this is not ‘wish we still did this’… but we do need to publicize more of the scams… I do NOT need to send information for the package being held up at the border!
11. Mental Health Management  – we had the Friends for Life Program for grade 4’s for a number of years… I miss that! But to say that this ‘used to be’ taught… definitely not a life skill that was taught when I was a student… really just an early 21st century focus and has definitely carried on – even though some wish we didn’t spend so much on these ‘soft skills’ that are so essential
12. Basic First Aid – first aid courses are now so available, it is pretty easy to get a much better education on first aid than was ever available to me as a student…  another example of something that has only become more normalized… and then reduced… recently
13. Environmental Responsibility – haha – again, not something we cared about when I was part of the very informal satirical “Pave the Stein” foundation – Old Growth vs Entertainment Mecca in rural BC! My kids have a much better sense of the environment than I did and it took a lot of unlearning to have a better view of how small things can make a big difference in my own life… #thankyougreta
14. Negotiation Skills – ‘rarely’ taught? I think even that is a stretch… shifting the list from ‘what they don’t teach anymore’ to be more of a “what the author wishes were ever taught in school… before or in the future…
15. Home Organization – I mean… there is such a socioeconomic range in each classroom – do we really compare how someone’s minimalist 5000sq ft home compares to a family’s 500sq ft studio apartment? Do a look at Feng Shui and Presentation Zen and let people explore this on their own… 
16. Basic Legal Knowledge – yeah, habeas corpus… ooh, too soon? Typed on May 13th 2025 – google it… what is legal is becoming more like guidelines than actual rules…
17. Networking Skills – again… doing more of this in todays schooling than yesteryears…
18. Personal Branding – come on… this article is falling further away from it’s intended purpose… though in Art class one year, I did do a pretty good stencil for Landy Sportswear…

Is there something from the before times that you wish schools still taught to all? What is something that schools continue to teach that ought to be dropped as not necessary for all?