Success Happy

How would you feel about High School classes like these?

American Banks: how to open an account, how to read the fine print, how to know if it is really free, how to balance a checkbook or use a program to do this. Grocery Shopping: how to pick veggies and fresh fruit, how to read a package label, when does the shelf life expire, when was it baked. Public transportation: pay by the ride or buy a pass, how to read a bus or el route, how to avoid getting lost, when should you take a taxi. Fashion: What to wear and where to find it, how to figure your size, do those shoes fit. Personal grooming: how to get rid of hair, how to keep it manageable, how often to trim or get it cut, what you should know about hair dying. You get the idea. Something practical. Any others? The concept is Practical as opposed to Theorectical. Not what brand to wear or how to go Goth. What are students not getting in school that they really need to live day to day? Parents do not always do this and some students may not have both parents.

Public Comments

1. those would be pretty easy classes but those are types of things we learn from our parents and from experience.
2. Credit: What it is, why it's important, how to maintain good credit, protecting yourself from credit fraud, etc Maybe lump it into a big "Personal Finance" course encompassing checking, savings, retirement plans, doing your taxes, credit, rent, credit cards, student loans, car loans, etc etc. [edit] These may seem like easy concepts to some people, but there are alot, and I do mean alot, of people out there who have no idea about these things. Many companies exploit this ignorance to make big profits.
3. I don't think I like the idea of my tax dollars going toward teaching teenagers how often to cut their hair or which brand of jeans is "in"... As far as other practical things (shopping, balancing checkbook, etc) these things are taught in many high schools in home ec. or "life studies" ... personally, I'd be happy if the schools managed to teach basic literacy.
4. I think the more education, the better. The above would especially be great for new immigrants. Really like the idea of financial education as so many are in debt today. I often think they should really focus on careers & further education so kids have a better idea of what to do when they get out of school. Maybe something like job shadowing.
5. In Los Angeles public schools, to graduate, we're required to take a course called Life Skills which is fairly similar to this - I'm taking an equivalent relating to career development instead, but I know from those who took it that it includes tasks such as learning to check out books from the library. The concept is admirable but misguided, simply because students are at such different levels of knowledge regarding the issues, and because many of them are so subjective. For a good number of motivated students who have already learned the skills, the class becomes an "easy A" that takes up time that should be used for more academic classes - I know that at my school, we end up having to take two or three classes outside of school just to meet graduation requirements. I'd like to see the class as a supplemental elective - maybe an extracurricular meeting once a week for field trips and hands-on practice. From experience, if it were to be taught in a classroom, with tests, homework, and the like, the structure would render it more busywork than anything else.
6. They sound like great things that kids need to know but I think you'd have trouble ever filling an entire class with each one. At my high school we had a Personal Finance class that taught how to do income tax and compare mortgages - your ideas on banking and something to do with budgeting would be a good class. Several of your other ideas were also taught in a Discovery class (not being rude but for kids who have learning or developemental issues) it'd be a good idea to offer that to every student though because those things are expected to just be known and life doesn't work that way. GREAT IDEAS hopefully you can get someone in education to listen to them!
7. Yes, I think there's a dire need for more practical education. As others have hinted, the trick would be merging it with an academic approach. To this end, I think classes in statistics should be mandatory for high school students. A good feel for statistics is vital for many aspects of everyday life, in a way that algebra, geometry and trigonometry are not. Innumeracy today is every bit as problematic as illiteracy. Practical math (such as statistics) builds the foundation for logical thought. Want to clear up the consumer debt crisis in this country? Want to stop the gullible giving their life savings to TV evangelists? Want to wipe out idiocy such as 'intelligent design' and psychic hotlines? Teach the kids statistics!