"Life Skills" Classes?

[Achbek1]

So there has been a lot of talk lately in local media both about the "high cost of being poor" and of the lack of discipline, monetary or otherwise, in many today's young people...

I have worked in the education field for a while now and I have taken notice of a few things:

--Many programs under the heading of Special Education and/or Social Service programs include "life skills" classes wherein students are taught about successfully completing the tasks of daily living. They are taught about banking, budgeting, paying rent and utilities, choosing clothing and other items, meal planning, etc. I do not mean this is a disparaging way at all but maybe we should integrate "Life Skills" classes into all other areas of education as well.

I have been flabbergasted by the number of people I have encountered, some school age and some adult, who DO NOT KNOW HOW TO WRITE A CHECK. I have seen others who have never learned how to budget, who can't keep track of their rent and other bills, who blow too much money on clothes and who can't plan a meal to save their lives. These are people with no special circumstances or disadvantages, just people who never learned. And so many people are still living with their parents into their 30s and older because they wouldn't know how to live on their own... They have no LIFE SKILLS.

I think that classes where students are given activities where they have a set amount of fake money and a list of pretend bills to pay might help them learn now to budget and prioritize. There could also be activities where they are given a fake grocery ad and fake coupons. Students could be given extra credit based on how much money they save using the fake coupons. There could also be a list of food items that they would have to categorize into individual meal plans.

...It just occurred to me that these kinds of lessons may have at one point been given in HOME ECONOMICS CLASSES... But MANY SCHOOLS TODAY NO LONGER GIVE HOME ECONOMICS CLASSES! I am 31 years old and I went to a middle class suburban public high school. We did not have Home Ec classes.

Heck, even the social and health problems of obesity, poor nutrition and diabetes could be in part linked to the lack of Home Ec classes... KIDS THESE DAYS DO NOT KNOW HOW TO COOK "REAL" FOOD! THEY ONLY KNOW HOW TO SICK SOMETHING IN A MICROWAVE. I don't remember ever being taught how to skin a chicken or select vegetables. When I started to live on my own I always had to reach for a cookbook to find out the proper time and temperature to cook something. This is also true of finding out how long you can keep certain foods for before they go bad. How long can you keep cooked meat in the refrigerator and have it still be safe to eat?

I admit that I was not taught many of these things while growing up and I have had to look stuff up on my own. I still to this day am embarassed by the fact that there are certain kinds of vegetables that I have never heard of and certain elements of food preparation that I am clueless about. Again, my public high school did not have Home Ec.

And when people don't learn about money management, food preparation and other things the sad fact is that they end up needing someone else to bail them out... The government of Mom and Dad.

Does James Williams read this board? If you do, I love ya man! Does the Buffalo Public School system teach Home Ec... Or like I said even the suburban schools may need the classes also...

I'll end with a somewhat abrasive comment: When low income students do not receive Life Skills classes they end up on Section 8 and Welfare. When middle income suburban students do not receive Life Skills classes they end up living with Mom and Dad and in massive credit card debt. There.

[NoCtUrNaL]

And when people don't learn about money management, food preparation and other things the sad fact is that they end up needing someone else to bail them out... The government of Mom and Dad.

Maybe if mom and dad took the time to give their kids "life skill classes" they wouldn't have to "bail them out" later in life. That and it would be one less course taxpayers would have to pay for.

What do ya think, hmmmm?

[Achbek1]

I agree with you on that and I'm all for the basics being taught at home... The sad fact is that sometimes the parents themeselves don't have the "life skills" to pass on to their children.

We were a blue collar working class family, not at the top or the bottom. We were however somewhat dysfunctional. My parents were distracted by other things in their lives and some things they taught me and some things they did not. My mother never taught me about cooking or storing food. However, she did teach me about the joy of coupon clipping and buying things on sale. And he did sit down with me and teach me about how to write a check and balance my checkbook. I am always grateful for what she did teach me.

I'm not someone who believes that the government should act in place of parents, but I think it's better to have tax money support life skills classes that will maybe keep people away from the "bail out" programs than to spend more tax money on the "bail out" programs...

And as I mentioned, the lack of life skills is true across all socioeconomic backgrounds... There are just as many "spoiled rich kids" who don't know how to balance a check book or cook a pot roast as their are poor kids who can't do those things.

I remember last summer being horrified when I read about the "Free Summer Lunch Programs." Apparently these programs had to be put in effect because the kids who normally got free breakfast and free lunch at school were not eating at all during the summer. I was shocked. How hard can it be for a parent to slap some peanut butter or bologna on a piece of bread and feed their children?

[NoCtUrNaL]

I agree with you on that and I'm all for the basics being taught at home... The sad fact is that sometimes the parents themeselves don't have the "life skills" to pass on to their children.

I didn't know such people existed.

It should make for some interesting parent/children after school conversations.


"So Timmy, how you doing in 'Ass Wiping 101'..?"

"Look ma, I can put a condom on a banana!"

[WNYresident]

They have no LIFE SKILLS.

Blame the parents. Don't expect government schooling to make perfect kids. The government is far from perfect, just look around here

We stopped having interns because they DON'T know the basics of the field they are supposed to be learning. Most interns were from BOCES.

Kids in the art/graphic field don't know how to do basic fractions or even how to use a ruler in some cases.

ON the technical side of things the kids were even worse. I had interns who couldn't solder, couldn't mechanically figure out how to open up a computer case and/or knew enough to unplug a system before pulling cards out etc.

Oh ask a few to count change when handed a $10 dollar bill and the reciept was $5.88.

As a tax payer I would say we are NOT getting our value from the "Public School Inc" company teaching the children in our community.

[DelawareDistrict]

"Life Skills Classes" is an oxymoron. The vast majority of these programs fail due to extremely high dropout rates. People take them to lengthen their free ride from the government. If the government continues to support people they will continue to lack the necessary incentive to take care of themselves by learning "life skills".

[tomac]

So there has been a lot of talk lately in local media both about the "high cost of being poor" and of the lack of discipline, monetary or otherwise, in many today's young people...
I have worked in the education field for a while now and I have taken notice of a few things:
--Many programs under the heading of Special Education and/or Social Service programs include "life skills" classes wherein students are taught about successfully completing the tasks of daily living. They are taught about banking, budgeting, paying rent and utilities, choosing clothing and other items, meal planning, etc. I do not mean this is a disparaging way at all but maybe we should integrate "Life Skills" classes into all other areas of education as well.
I have been flabbergasted by the number of people I have encountered, some school age and some adult, who DO NOT KNOW HOW TO WRITE A CHECK. I have seen others who have never learned how to budget, who can't keep track of their rent and other bills, who blow too much money on clothes and who can't plan a meal to save their lives. These are people with no special circumstances or disadvantages, just people who never learned. And so many people are still living with their parents into their 30s and older because they wouldn't know how to live on their own... They have no LIFE SKILLS.
I think that classes where students are given activities where they have a set amount of fake money and a list of pretend bills to pay might help them learn now to budget and prioritize. There could also be activities where they are given a fake grocery ad and fake coupons. Students could be given extra credit based on how much money they save using the fake coupons. There could also be a list of food items that they would have to categorize into individual meal plans.
...It just occurred to me that these kinds of lessons may have at one point been given in HOME ECONOMICS CLASSES... But MANY SCHOOLS TODAY NO LONGER GIVE HOME ECONOMICS CLASSES! I am 31 years old and I went to a middle class suburban public high school. We did not have Home Ec classes.
Heck, even the social and health problems of obesity, poor nutrition and diabetes could be in part linked to the lack of Home Ec classes... KIDS THESE DAYS DO NOT KNOW HOW TO COOK "REAL" FOOD! THEY ONLY KNOW HOW TO SICK SOMETHING IN A MICROWAVE. I don't remember ever being taught how to skin a chicken or select vegetables. When I started to live on my own I always had to reach for a cookbook to find out the proper time and temperature to cook something. This is also true of finding out how long you can keep certain foods for before they go bad. How long can you keep cooked meat in the refrigerator and have it still be safe to eat?
I admit that I was not taught many of these things while growing up and I have had to look stuff up on my own. I still to this day am embarassed by the fact that there are certain kinds of vegetables that I have never heard of and certain elements of food preparation that I am clueless about. Again, my public high school did not have Home Ec.
And when people don't learn about money management, food preparation and other things the sad fact is that they end up needing someone else to bail them out... The government of Mom and Dad.
Does James Williams read this board? If you do, I love ya man! Does the Buffalo Public School system teach Home Ec... Or like I said even the suburban schools may need the classes also...
I'll end with a somewhat abrasive comment: When low income students do not receive Life Skills classes they end up on Section 8 and Welfare. When middle income suburban students do not receive Life Skills classes they end up living with Mom and Dad and in massive credit card debt. There.

Congratulations! You have just described the old movie "To Sir With Love"....
I suggested this line of thought to a friend (who was a teacher) and he laughed at me. He taught shop and couldn't teach his students anything that they could use in life (like basic home repairs) but had to be content with having them make lawn ornaments ("Keep Off The Grass" signs) and napkin holders. All the while praying (silently - it WAS public school) that they didn't slice off a finger.
Schools have needed this line of study for years; I hope they start to get it someday.

[WNYresident]

Do they still do shop in schools? I remember in grammer school shop. Using drill presses, band saws etc...

[Achbek1]

"Life Skills Classes" is an oxymoron. The vast majority of these programs fail due to extremely high dropout rates. People take them to lengthen their free ride from the government. If the government continues to support people they will continue to lack the necessary incentive to take care of themselves by learning "life skills".

This is kind of on par with the Free Summer Lunch Program.

There are parents who

can't

won't

or don't know how

to make a meal to feed their children in the summer time.

It's shocking too that so many kids are only fed AT SCHOOL. I read a few things online about Free Summer Lunch Programs and many of the info had some touchy feely writing about how, "Many kids have empty refrigerators and depend on school to provide nutritious food. When school is out during the summer these kids go hungry."

HELLO!

If there are parents who are not feeding their children or at least attempting to feed their children shouldn't these people be brought in for child abuse?

But, as you said, it is the people who get used to government handouts who then never learn to do things for themselves. "Ah, why bother gettin' up to make breakfast for the kid, school will do it." It's like when you start to feed the squirrels in your yard and the squirrels then forget how to look for food on their own.

AGAIN, THE FACT THAT THERE ARE PARENTS OUT THERE WHO CAN'T, WON'T OR DON'T KNOW HOW TO PREPARE A MEAL FOR THEIR CHILDREN IS FRIGHTENING...

[Achbek1]

I just noticed how well the stevenco quote in my sig file goes with this last post...

"If you can't believe in peanut butter and jelly, then what can you believe in?"
--Stevenco

"If you can't make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, then what the heck?"
--Achbek1

[Trolls_r_us]

I agree with the original poster, these classes either need to be ADDED to high school, or even better, INCORPORATED somehow into the existing coursework, and from a somewhat early age, say 7th or 8th grade

you can't blame the kids for having screwed up parents... most don;t have ONE halfway decent parent, let alone two

that's why the "leave it to the parents" argument doesn't work. In an ideal world, yes, leave it to the parents.

But today, I would say a MAJORITY of parents (even if its 50.00001%) are either too busy, too selfish, or too incompetent to teach these skills to their kids

This is really about helping young people acquire real useful skills so that they have a prayer of making it in life.

saying "sorry but that's you parents' job" doesn't work for me as an educator... besides, the kid would many times just assume (correctly) that you have no clue what it's like to live without any adult guidance and then be told "you're on your own"

go check out the "Buffalo Crime Reports" thread for an update on how that's working out

[WNYresident]

that's why the "leave it to the parents" argument doesn't work. In an ideal world, yes, leave it to the parents.

But to have the programs seem to make he parents even less responsibile.

[NoName]

In the Head Start Program, parent involvment is extremely encouraged. Only a minimum amount of parents participate. That is odd seeing that typically only a very low percentage of parents in that program work.

[Achbek1]

With these parents who are not feeding their children or taking care of their children's basic needs, are the parents taking care of their own needs?

And in some cases social programs are pushed on people.

When I delivered my child at Children's one of the nurses asked me if I was going to apply for WIC. I was like, "Oh no, we're okay. We have insurance." I admit I was a little foggy from having just given birth but what I meant was, "No. We can provide for our child ourselves." The nurse got all huffy and defensive with me and said, "Well! Insurance doesn't have anything to do with it!" But her tone was that I SHOULD take the WIC because it was there and how dare I say I would not need it.

And when I was pregant I called Children's to sign up for labor and delivery classes. The person on the phone signed me up and then said, "Oh do you have insurance?" I answered yes and then she proceeded to tell me, "Well... Just wait until after the class is over and let the nurse know that you do have insurance... Most of the people in the class are on Medicaid." That really hit a nerve with me... Like we had to hide the fact that we had insurance...

I understand that a lot of Social Service programs are aimed at children and parents... That's the touchy feely part of it all, "take care of the kids." And that is great... But when too much is given away to the parents or done for the parents, sometimes right from the child's birth, the parents then get a little too slack and too sloppy... Something as simple as preparing a basic simple meal for your child should be something that all parents, no matter how hard off they may be, should do... I'm sure these parents who are neglecting to make lunch for their children because they are so used to school doing it must still at least be making lunch for themselves? Or are they?

But this is full circle. If the parents are not capable to even budget what money they have (whether earned money, food stamps or otherwise) to purchase the food and then make it into a meal then the parents are lacking a basic and fundamental LIFE SKILL.

Step 1: Take bread from bag.

Step 2: Open jar of peanut butter.

Step 3: Get knife.

Step 4: Dip knife into peanut butter.

Step 5: Spread peanut butter on bread.

Step 6: Eat.

...Or as noctural said, maybe the parents and/or schools are more conerned with teaching children how to put condoms on bananas rather than teaching them how to a.) make money to buy the banana b.) get to store to buy banana c.) appropriately pay for the banana d.) feed banana to your child

SOMETHING IS WRONG HERE PEOPLE! SOMETHING IS SERIOUSLY WRONG!

[speaker]

Well, it's true, achbek. It would be better for the kids to take classes like these than some of the ones they do have, such as "Art", which is basically taking some clay and making an ashtray. There are a lot of these fill-ins that aren't good for much.
A lot of parents rely too much on school for breakfasts, teaching about the birds n bees. But one of the first things all students should be taught, at home and at school, is respect for the teachers, as people they can learn from.
If parents are receiving food stamps, they're getting enough for three nutritious meals a day, not fancy, but filling.