Begin Teaching Today by Cash

Begin Teaching Today by Cash - October 2022 Scholarship Essay

Students are commonly asked, “what do you want to be when you grow up”? This is asked to students from kindergarten until their senior year. Oftentimes the student does not actually know until they get close to graduating. Should schools be teaching the students with more life skills instead of just expecting them to know what they want to be? How will they know unless they have been through life and know what skills they need for life to be able to manage life and their occupation? Education is important as it instills critical thinking in our everyday life. The education system could be more useful if students were taught basic life skills such as emotional intelligence, money management, and communication skills.
Students need to be adequately equipped for the emotional ride they will go through during their years of schooling. This could be from elementary school to high school. The emotional roller coaster that students go through can really take a toll on their well being. This can range from being bullied to not understanding the concepts that are being taught when the rest of the class understands. Yes, the school often provides counseling or a counseling class that is required. The problem here is that more times than not the student is too afraid to step up and ask for help. Emotional intelligence needs to be included into the curriculum for every grade. This will also teach the students how to control their emotions, identify their emotions, show empathy, communicate their feelings, and appreciate other people’s feelings. This will help those students who are too afraid to ask for help have some peace of mind hearing what they need to hear. Emotional roller coasters happen all throughout life, students need to be taught how to handle it. Teachers can instill emotional intelligence in school pretty easily by just practicing it themselves in front of their students. Teaching emotional intelligence at such a young age does not only equip the student with that skill, but other life skills as well, such as teamwork and patience.
Money management is one of the most important things to know about your future life. Childrens are not faced with having to manage their money as much as adults, but they will be there one day. Students right out of high school have to often make some of the most important financial decisions of their lives. Going to college, paying most bills on their own, and moving out. Not all kids are fortunate enough to have parents that financially support them once they graduate. Picking the right college and seeing what scholarships they can get is essential. Sometimes there’s scholarships that can help pay for the majority of college and sometimes there’s not. Oftentimes parents hand over all bills to their kids once they graduate, and that can be a lot all at once. How will students know what decisions to make about these important phases they will go through?
Schools do not teach about any of these life milestones that will happen until their senior year. Kids as young as elementary school should start being taught how to budget, save and what it means to be in debt. This will ensure that they know what is coming their way in their near future. They need to be taught how to save their money they earn, so when they’re ready to make that important decision they will have some money already saved. Teachers should ingrain this in their students' brains so whether or not their parents teach them how to, they will have learned somewhere. This will also help the student learn the difference between needs and wants, and balancing their money for that.
Do teachers teach their students how to properly communicate to someone? How will the student ever know how to communicate? Communication is a life skill that will never go away. People communicate every single day to all kinds of other people. Students need to learn how to communicate respectfully while also listening to others when they are talking to them. The student needs to learn to listen to someone when they are talking to them and respond with something respectful. The student needs to be taught to not use hurtful words, listen with an open mind, and watch their facial expressions and tone. Sometimes in a conversation not everyone agrees on everything. This can lead to using hurtful words, a hurtful facial expression, or a hurtful tone. Introducing this life skill at a young age will help the student better know how to communicate with everyone around them with a smile on their face. Good communication skills help students build healthy relationships and learn how to be more receptive to other people’s feelings.
It is essential that schools teach students the importance of emotional intelligence, money management, and communication skills. The school is a perfect environment for the teachers to teach their students all of these important skills. There are multiple different, fun ways to teach these students life skills. Every grade from kindergarten until senior year should be required to practice these skills every single day. Why would the schools want their students to graduate and be lost in the world? Teachers should be role models for their students. Instill these skills at a young age and make education important to everyone.