Mandatory High School Life Skills Course by Heidi

Mandatory High School Life Skills Course by Heidi - August 2015 Scholarship Essay

Mandatory High School Life Skills Course
The subject that I would add to high school curriculum would be a necessary life skills course. Many schools offer life skills classes as electives but I believe that a mandatory and well-designed life skills class should be offered for all high school students. Students in high school are headed in many different directions upon graduation and should be capable of handling basic life decisions and problems. This course would not be meant to replace the skills that children should learn at home but would be meant to supplement these skills and to teach them to children who are not taught these types of skills at home.
There are certain skills that a high school graduate needs to have acquired before they enter college or wander out into life. These are life skills that include things such as basic cooking, cleaning and mending, balancing a checkbook, interacting with business people, obtaining necessary services and how to dress for certain occasions. For children who are fortunate enough to grow up in a household where they are taught these skills, this class would just reinforce this teaching and help them fine-tune these skills. Many children, even though they are from a good home, are not taught these skills and when they enter the world need to figure out how to accomplish these tasks.
I believe that it is important that every high school graduate go through this necessary life skills course to ensure that they are able to successfully navigate real-life situations that they may not have encountered while living at home. Something as simple as replacing a missing button or fixing a torn seam on a garment is a skill that every person should know how to accomplish. Balancing a checkbook, using a credit card and interacting with business people is a skill that takes practice and is extremely important in life and high school students should have the opportunity to practice these skills before using them in real life. Basic cooking and cleaning skills are important tools to have and high school students should learn how to cook at least a few basic meals and some basic cleaning tips that they could build upon if they desire. Knowing how to cook and clean are important life skills that are not intuitive for everyone, especially if the student has not been exposed to these skills. Obtaining services such as finding a mechanic to work on your car, a plumber to fix the leak under your sink or an electrician to install a ceiling fan in the bedroom and how to communicate with these skilled workers and scheduling offices are skills that should be taught to high school students.
Parents should not be offended by this mandatory life skills course. The class is not meant to replace their teaching and should not contain any type of religious or moral component so that it is not offensive to anyone. This class would be mandatory for all high school students and could be taken at any time in the high school schedule. While this may seem like a unique course to offer high school students, the class would be one of the most important classes they will take. It is important for all high school students to possess life skills that will enable them to be successful adults.