Now dear reader, if you are like me, then you have most likely at one time or the other stressed about your future. Where will you get into college? How are your grades? WHY CAN’T I FIND A BOYFRIEND?!?! Truly all of these questions are important, however let me ask you one that truly matters in the long run: Dear reader, can you cook yourself a square meal? Now and before you ask, no. A square meal is not cereal or toast. If you have said no, then, dear reader, you have joined the ranks of our generation who lack one of most likely many basic skills. Unfortunately, dear reader, while many of our generation are truly gifted in studies and being, the sad truth is that many of us lack one or more of the basic skills that are required to have a stable lifestyle, such as filing taxes and cooking. Now the common question arises, where would we learn such skills? Surely our parents are too busy to help us, so where else would we get these skills? However, with all questions, come answers, and the answer today, dear reader, is that you can learn it in the very same place where we spend the vast majority of our adolescent lives… School!
Now as you sit here reading this article, you may ask yourself: “Wait, we have classes that cover things like that?”, and unfortunately dear reader the answer is no. Unfortunately, the american school system-the very system designed to get us ready for college and adulthood-is woefully inadequate at providing any form of information on basic life skills. So why is this? In an article by the Huffington Post, Dr. Carol Morgan gives us some insight: “a big factor is probably because it’s assumed that children will learn all of this at home.-another reason we don’t teach these skills is because they’re “soft.” In other words, “easy.” But I disagree. I think soft skills are more important than most of what our children are taught.”(Morgan). Throughout the article, Dr. Morgan explains how throughout the previous decades, we have seen little to know information being presented on basic information, such as how to change a tire, cook, sew, and even do taxes. She also explains that while in the past we have had things such as Home Economics and shop to assist in covering at least some of these subjects, the steady decrease of these classes has resulted in young adults being unprepared for a world outside of high school. To emphasise this point, I would like to direct your attention now to the image that I have included with my article. Kindly submitted by one of the organisation artists, Ms. Desiree Vu-de Leon, the piece has been wonderfully created to accompany the article you read today. The painting in question is one of a student, recently graduated, proudly presenting their diploma to you. More pressing however, is the background of debts, charred meals and empty food bags, all of which seems to go unnoticed by the student, as time slowly, yet surely, dear reader, robbed them of the ability and spirit, to change their world, for the better.
Sow how do we fix this dear reader? How do we, as the future of our world, work to fix this issue so that those after us are well and truly prepared to enter the world that is waiting for them beyond their diploma? The answer, it turns out, is quite simple! We simply introduce it into a curriculum that accommodates on a more natural level. For example, Arthur Morgan school in Burnsville, North Carolina, encourages their students to incorporate basic skills into their daily routine: “Daily house chores, weekend work projects and weekly house meetings all create the sense of responsibility over their lives and spaces that many schools and jobs are seeking. Add to that the expectations to cook, clean up after themselves, and budget their personal expenses and most AMS graduates end up fulfilling many of the items on those life skills lists.” (AMS) It is by incorporating skills like these into a daily curriculum that students are able to successfully change their future for the batter, and even if schools were to take a more relaxed approach to this method, we would still see a wonderful increase in the capabilities of this generation and the next.
We must remember dear readers. We are not only the present but we are also the future, and the pathmakers for the voices of tomorrow. I will leave off today with a message I always repeat, but here and now, I feel that it truly bears significance: There is always the possibility of a better tomorrow. What can you do to make it a reality?
Once again, this artwork was kindly given to this article by Ms. Desiree Vu-de Leon, a wonderful artist, and partner. 😁