Skip to main content

Mandatory Schooling, 8.5 classes for high schoolers

Little House Antique Style School Desk, Ink Wells & Pens Fits Two ..."Dad, I know what I'm not going to do. Sit in a desk. I just wasted the last 13 years of my life doing that. I'm done sitting."

My son graduated this year. He gets asked all the time what he wants to do next. He has plans to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and then pursue a career in law enforcement.

My heart hurt. He's right, in a way, that it was sitting. Not entirely wasted, mind you, but he makes a great point.

Here are 8.5 mandatory high school classes, not time wasters;

  1. Money management - it's a resource that requires skill and knowledge. Debt is poison.
  2. Mental health - statistics on this, for this generation, scream for education and support.
  3. Time management - instead of yelling get off your phone, teach replacement behaviors.
  4. Taxes - see #1, and #7.
  5. Self-confidence - coping skills, self-facilitation tools, conversational and manners.
  6. Self-care - awareness, attention, habits of work, habits of play, leadership.
  7. Financial literacy - see #1, #4, and paying tithing.
  8. Outward mindset - how to see others as people rather than objects.
8.5. Outdoor survival - see #2, #5, #6.

Education is changing. Rapidly.

Onward!

Dr. J

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

1.5 Reasons to Take a Different Path - The Hippy-Cow Way

The Hippy-Cow Way I remember early in my career asking a question something like, "Why don't we try [insert idea here]?"  And the quick reply, "Because this is the way we've always done it." Wow. 2020 is teaching us that the way  we've always done things..does not work.  Yeah.  The age-old rut that can trap us all. Frustrating isn't it? As a child growing up in the Aspen Valley, I remember traveling many miles along Highway 82.  Glenwood to Carbondale, then to Basalt, and on to Aspen.  Two lanes most of the way, it was and is the main route connecting all of these Rocky  Mountain towns.  The drive can be breath-taking in the Fall. And most take this route because, well, it's the route we always take. It's familiar. Safe. Known. Well traveled. You get the idea. There are other ways to get where you're going. Roads less traveled that hold great sites and great reward. One of my favorites is the Hippy-Cow Way. Known only to our fam...

Weigh ins...How Wrestling Teaches Equality

I adore the sport of wrestling. Very few things have brought me as much personal and professional satisfaction, grief, suffering, confusion, and growth.  Three of my children have wrestled, including my youngest daughter. She's a pioneer in the sport, as evidenced by the interesting questions she gets asked. "You wrestle boys?" She does, and she wrestles female opponents as well. Or, "Wow, that's cool?" Almost like a side compliment. Wrestling is all about equality . It begins with weigh ins. Pre-match and pre-tournament, stripped down to the skivvies, get on the scale and check how much you weigh. I wrestled in the 119, 132, and 138 pound weight class. My opponents weighed the same.  The mat size is the same for all competitors. Mat time is the same, roughly six minutes, depending on division and age group. Same number of coaches are allowed in your corner, two. Same number of referees, usually one, supervise the match. Unless someone puts their thumb on t...

How are We to Live in a COVID Age?

As a man who believes in Christ and strives to understand how I process those beliefs in my life, my actions, and my words; I often turn to modern philosophers to help me make sense of things. In my own weakness, I don't always understand scriptures. My faith often falls short. My prayers could be on repeat. I love to read, think, and write. I often come across gems that strike me as relevant. One such philosopher who's words captured my young heart, C.S. Lewis, gives me pause. Here is his take, on the atomic age, my additions and emphasis embedded, no disrespect intended. “In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic [ covid ] age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer,...