I’m not sure if it’s just me but sometimes I blame high school for how we all turned out. I mean, we can’t rule out the effect our parents and friends had on us too but high school has so much power to change students for the better. There is a lot high school can do to almost eliminate the hardship we face when we matriculate and get out into the real world independently. There are Life Orientation subjects in some schools, however, this subject barely teaches us how to even survive a normal day so there needs to be like a neutral subject in high school that teaches some of the following and is open to more suggestions too…
⁃REFERENCING/CITING
In my first year of university, I used to leave out the reference page because I just didn’t know how to reference and to cite my work so I preferred losing marks than just embarrassing myself by writing rubbish. We had about 4 evening tutorials in Media Studies focusing on referencing and I still didn’t know how to do it. Throughout my 2nd and 3rd year I just used referencing websites which basically did everything for me. Referencing correctly is important because plagiarizing is an actual crime, even though I have completed my degree I still feel the need to get down to the basics and learning how to do this correctly.
⁃HOW TO WRITE A BUSINESS PROPOSAL
Not everyone dreams of heading straight to college after high school and not everyone is actually lucky enough to get into college. How to write a business proposal is probably covered in Business-related subjects but everyone needs to learn how to hence they can pursue their personal dreams straight after high school and not have to worry about not knowing where to start. Such factors are the cause of self-doubt and the reason why some people give up early on their dreams.
⁃INTERVIEW ETIQUETTES
At some point in our lives we all go through interviews fighting for a particular job or a higher position at work. Again, not everyone is guaranteed a spot in college and not everyone wants to go there anyway and in most cases you need to have an interview with your potential employer and that will determine if you get the job or not. Interviews are definitely nerve-racking, that is why we need to learn at an early stage how to prepare for an interview and how to dress and speak in an interview.
⁃MENTAL HEALTH
The fact that high school doesn’t educate us thoroughly about mental illnesses and the likelihood of being a victim of a mental disorder is one of the reasons why we grow up feeling bad about how we feel and what we experience on a daily basis. Learning about this in high school could’ve made a significant difference on how we treat each other and how we feel and think of ourselves. It would also raise awareness about mental illnesses and normalize them without making it something to joke about.
⁃IMPORTANCE OF SELF-LOVE
The idea of ‘self-love’ pretty much came to our attention a few years ago. Prior to that, if someone spoke of self-love it would’ve been interpreted as selfishness but now we are beginning to understand the depth of self-love and the importance of it. We should’ve been taught this in high school to minimize impressing people, begging people to stay in our lives, bending over backwards for our friends’ approval and to minimize depending on others for happiness.
That’s it for now, 
19 Comments
I couldn’t agree more with you! Me and my friends are constantly asking ourselves why they don’t learn things like these in school and why we learn things that we’ll never use again in life. Xx
I know right? We almost feel like we are just wasting time and that’s why we are so lost when we graduate from high school and step into the real world
I agree on all points. It wouls be so useful to learn these skills before actually going out and having to face them in the real world.
I completely agree. I think schools really miss the mark by not teaching emotional intelligence and the practical, everyday skills required for adulting. It blows my mind that that stuff hardly comes up.
High school learning’s are very vital and they also contributes to your personality as an adult so make sure what you learn through your high school experience is very positive.
I love this so much!!! In my senior high school, we were taught to reference properly and we were also taught to make business proposals but I still feel that I lack knowledge about it since it’s just a topic that we need to discuss. I SO AGREE with mental health and self-love, those two are just so important!
You are so lucky to have learnt that in high school. I never had the chance to learn that when l was at school and now I’m just dependent on Google😅.
They would’ve helped us so much if they taught us about mental health and self-love❤
Love this list! As someone graduating high school this year I could not agree more!
If you had learnt all these during your high school years you would be way more prepared for the world, l really hope soon enough the system changes🌈
Well I must be doing something right….
I teach my students the multiple dimensions of health which include mental and social sections. I teach middle school.
One of my colleagues who teaches computer class does budgeting and personal finance.
You and your colleague could actually change the world! I’m so proud of you and thank you for doing that, you are preparing your students for the real world early enough and we need more people like you❤
So true! The school system needs to focus more on topics that can actually help us in the future (like how to pay taxes). Very insightful post!
Yuup, we pretty much won’t be needing or talking about mitosis on a daily basis so we need lessons on things that can be helpful for us in the near future💞
Well-said. I have thought about this too. More life skills, more self-understanding and mental health awareness.
Yes yes yes! Change needs to be done indeed 🌈
I have such a bugbear about what High School doesn’t teach its pupils! I agree mental health and self – love are vital for a happier life, but we don’t learn about them until we need to and are in crisis! I also would have loved to be taught about taxes too. And how to budget.
Ohyes, taxes and budgeting! I am 22 and l still don’t know how taxes work and all. Same situation with budgeting, sometimes I think I’ve got it then I find myself back at square one. I really agree with you, learning this in high school would’ve helped us so much🌈
Yesss love this so much!!! I think people would be leaving high school so much more prepared for adult life and more balanced if this was part of the curriculum! I’d also add personal finances in there as it’s pretty complicated to learn all about (and can be a sensitive subject to ask for help with) but could help people out a lot.
Oh we really need personal finance lessons in high school too! We end up learning from our mistakes in college when it comes to managing money☺. Thanks for sharing sis💞