If I were to poll everyone, I bet most people would say that their years in public school (if you were unfortunate enough to be part of one) did next to nothing to prepare you for the real world. Actually let’s go ahead and just put a poll in the post. Why not?
I know that the mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell.
I’m pretty good at math.
I know a few things about American History.
But how often do those really come up in normal conversation? How often does my brain get tested on this information in a meaningful way? Next to zero.
Now, if you would’ve had a class in high school that went over how to plan meals every fucking day, that shit would’ve been valuable. It’s exhausting! Not to mention if you’re planning meals for yourself and a spouse, or for your family. You have to optimize how to spend your money at the grocery store, balance how to find time to actually get to the grocery store and take a wild ass guess at how to pick which store to go to until you finally get it down.
What about insurance? I’m fairly certain that if you polled most adults, most people have no idea what their insurance even does. What is a co-pay? What is co-insurance? How are two things that sound so alike not actually the same thing? Why the fuck did we not cover this shit in high school?
Why was there no class on feeding myself too? If you go to the internet and type “What diet is recommended by dietitians?” You will get enough answers to make your head spin. Nutrition is one of the single most important things that supports the human existence, yet we devote nearly no time to teaching people how to select foods that benefit their body. Just a whole lot of “here’s what happens if you get pregnant as a teen”, and “here’s what condoms are!”
Our school systems are failing our country, and this is primarily because we criminally undervalue educational staff. It’s far more profitable for someone to be an assistant store manager at a retail store, than to teach kids how to be functional adults.
What if we paid teachers more though?
What if we reformed the curriculum to help students leave school with more life skills?
What would happen then?
We would likely attract the brightest and best to the profession. It would become more competitive and benefit students in the long run.
But that’s not where we’re headed.
Watch that movie with Terry Crews as the president where everyone is dumb and getting a number tattooed on them to identify themselves. That’s where we’re headed.
Pay teachers more.
Now excuse me while I try to figure out how many mitochondria I’m supposed to eat for dinner.
