Life Skills You Don’t Learn in School

It doesn’t make a lot of sense how we enter adult life unprepared, although we spent most of our development years in an educational institution. 

However, parents tend to delegate most of our intellectual and life-skill development to schools, and they don’t teach us many things we need to know.

If you’re a parent now, you have the power to change this for your children. If you just graduated, think of this as a to-learn list. Either way, these five areas should be introduced in the curriculum as soon as possible.

Teamwork

You may be saying to yourself, ‘wait, but we did a ton of teamwork in assignments and projects.’ 

Try to remember it more clearly, though. Students HATE group assignments as the responsibility ends up on each member individually. There’s always that lazy student that doesn’t contribute but yet shares your grade.

An excellent way to change this would be by teaching students how to motivate and encourage others. Children should also learn early on how to fit into a team and develop emotional intelligence.

As you will learn in your first job interview, teamwork skills are invaluable to businesses. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a project manager or an entrepreneur, understanding how to work in a team is crucial for life after school.

Organization

Schools and universities drop bundles of assignments on you. However, the school helps you fit these in your everyday life, not making you prioritize. 

In the future, when you’re off to university or a job, there will be many classes and small tasks that don’t fit into your schedule. That is if you even bothered to make one on your own.

So, later in life, you will need to develop efficiency skills and productivity. Only that way, you can ensure that you are on top of what you need to do while maintaining a life outside your obligations.

Mental Health

So much controversy about mental health exists today. Many people go through life without even being aware of their mental health. If schools tried to teach children about mental health conditions, medication, and the importance of self-care, these numbers would be much lower.

There is a great value in learning more about mental health, not only to prevent illnesses but to get to know yourself better, too. That way, future generations will achieve more and live more fulfilling lives instead of just coping.

Financial Management

It may happen to you that you feel like you’re working around the clock and saving every penny. Then you check your bank account and see no improvement in the financial situation. 

Financial management needs to be taught to develop fully, and schools fail to do so. Even those that cover basic economics never focus on everyday issues such as budgeting, utilities, and taxes.

As a result, you may find yourself living from hand to mouth, spending way too much on essentials, and hiring a tax lawyer to do your returns. Interest rates and loans are a world away.

All it takes is a class in high school to have a generation of independent, secure university students who make responsible financial choices. They will even make for better citizens later.

Applying for a Job

Sooner or later, we will all need to look and apply for a job. Most people go through years of trial and error before they crack the code and feel confident in their abilities.

If we entered the labor market with specific competence in the field, this would all run much more smoothly. We should be teaching our adolescents how to communicate in job interviews, how to recognize keywords in employment opportunities, and how to exhibit their skills.

Final Thoughts

Let’s face it; we all learn an immense amount of useful information in school. Teachers have one of the best, most responsible jobs in the world.

Still, there’s more to life than passing exams. Anyone who spent some time in the ‘real world’ will tell you how they regret having to learn a lot of necessary skills by themselves.

We aren’t calling for a reform of the educational system. All we are saying is that we should shift the emphasis on making our students more capable people. However, as the syllabi aren’t likely to change any time soon, be sure to educate yourself on these matters in time. You’ll thank yourself later.