A discussion of important things that should be taught in schools but aren't (NRR -- Non Relationship/Running Related)

Logic and critical thinking. People should better learn to consider what is (and isn't) being said or written, and how to identify flawed contentions or conclusions.

You say you took a couple of economic courses in college and still didn't understand the sub prime mess. What makes you think a couple of classes in high school would make it any clearer?

It's complicated stuff. The CEO's and politicians that helped created the mess are some of the better educated people in America (generally speaking) and they didn't have it figured out.

I think schools would be better off if they first concentrated on teaching the basics. You know, the 3 Rs, reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic.

" but even a 4th grader should be able to look at the band structure of a crystal and determine whether it's a metal, semiconductor, or insulator, and how those types of things should behave as a function of temperature or the curvature of the bands."

Why should people who aren't dealing with this as part of their job have an understanding of band structures? Be glad no one knows what that is - that's why you have a job.

1. How to treat your fellow man/woman.

2. MTV Shows are the furthest things from real life.

3. It's cool to be a good student.

4. Being a polite,upstanding individual with morals does not make you a homosexual. (Not that there's anything wrong with that!)

I wish I would have learned basic first aid in high school. I also want gym back!

Since when are graft, collusion, corruption, and criminal activity all that complex? Calling unregulated derivatives "complex financial instruments" is disingenuous at best. Laws have been intentionally undermined. The economic mess we're in could be reigned in quickly by eliminating the Fedreral Reserve, IRS, and prosecuting those culpable, including Wall St, the Executive Branch, and most of the Legislative.

If you think what I suggest sounds extreme, just wait another year or so.

I think a lot more time should be spent teaching kids about health & nutrition. We waste billons every year on needless drugs and surgeries. Prevention is the key.

Kids need to know all about where food comes from, why fast food is bad, why fruits & veggies are good, etc.

More time should also be spent on how to preserve the environment. This can be tied into nutrition: why meat eating is so wasteful to the planet.

I am a physicist too. But band structure? Come on! There are so many more useful things out there for ordinary people!

How about politics and current events in the world? So many Americans have no idea how our government works and tons just don't vote in general, for anything. And how many Americans know the major leaders and governmental structures of other major countries? While these things might be a little complex or too old for elementary school kids, they aren't for middle school and high school kids. I think that school systems have too much emphasis on math and not enough on social studies and history. Math is great, and useful, but at the pace it's being crammed into kids heads is ridiculous and is only being pushed so much b/c it's something that can be tested universally; while history and geography get a back seat.

8/10

-Practical life skills. How to: Balance a checkbook. Budget. Not get in debt. i.e. DON'T BECOME A FINANCIAL LOSER BURDEN TO SOCIETY

-Nutrition, Physical Education, Health Education, Why Drugs are Bad, Why Smoking is Bad i.e. DON'T BECOME A DIABETIC DRUG-ADDICT WHALE BURDEN TO SOCIETY

-How to have positive relationships with others and take pride in yourself/be motivated. i.e. DON'T BECOME AN UNPRODUCTIVE A*HOLD BURDEN TO SOCIETY

Those would be good places to start.

or a*hole. whatever.

The amazing benefits of running.

I'd start with the basics like honesty, respect, care for fellow human beings. They clearly aren't taught by the parents.

Why do people think that every social ill, real or imagined, should be solved by changing the school curriculum? Americans are overweight? Have schools fix it. Americans make bad financial decision? Have schools fix it. Americans are racist? Have schools fix it. Americans are selfish people? Have schools fix it. Americans worry too much about entertainment? Have schools fix it.

Wait, Americans can't read or do math as well as other countries? The schools must be broken. Shut them down.

I don't believe I learned even a single thing of value in 12 years of public primary school. In several years of college the only things of value that I learned were math, chemistry, and physics. Of course, I taught myself biology.

marijuologist wrote:

I don't believe I learned even a single thing of value in 12 years of public primary school...

Well nobody can turn a sow's ear into a silk purse.

I'm not a big fan of the "good ol' days" (which weren't necessarily so good) in education, but they got some things right:

1. Have a *vigorous* gym class every day--and, when you're out of school, continue with daily vigorous activity.

[It turns out that kids, especially boys, learn academic stuff better when they're doing regular large-muscle activity. Substituting more reading/arithmetic time in place of gym defeats its own purpose. (Ditto for the deletion of music from the schools--kids spending time with music do better academically.)]

2. Teach kids standard-English spelling; the principal parts of verbs; the nominative and objective cases of pronouns, and when to use each; the subjunctive mood; and how to diagram a sentence, so they can do things like subject-verb agreement and parallel structure correctly.

Have frequent tests for each and include competitive spelling bees.

3. Drill kids by rote so that they can add, subtract, multiply (at least to times-twelve) and divide (ditto) without having to think about the answer--they see "11 x 12" and they *know* as soon as they see it that that's just another way of writing "132."

jean wrote:

and include competitive spelling bees.

^^^bad idea......learning to spell crazy words serves no purpose....especially with spell checkers...what does make sense is knowing the correct use of homophones....their, they're, there, etc....things that aren't caught by spell check

now....they should teach you how to tie a tie in school....that shit's hard

jean wrote:

3. Drill kids by rote so that they can add, subtract, multiply (at least to times-twelve) and divide (ditto) without having to think about the answer--they see "11 x 12" and they *know* as soon as they see it that that's just another way of writing "132."

^^^another worthless thing....i'm a math major and can't even begin to stress the stupidity of "mad minutes" and other crap I did in elementary school....by teaching memorization of that junk....you're not learning how to actually multiply....a BETTER solution is to drill kids on how to multiply....and teach other methods of quick multiplication (11*12=12*10+12=132) that way kids can figure out how to do the problems....and thus after using these methods to multiply will in some time know what the answer to 11*12=132, and why it is....