Good morning!
Today’s post stems from my frustration with high school, seeing how it impacts students and recognizing how ill-prepared people are when they leave. It was also inspired by an assignment in my Developmental Psychology class where we had to apply specific topics we’ve learned to our future careers.
If you’ve been through the secondary education system in Canada, perhaps you have another perspective on this. I am an immigrant from Jamaica and I started Canadian high school in grade 11, so my lens is possibly skewed. I graduated high school about ten years ago, and when I first got to post-secondary, I was caught off guard, to say the least. I went from learning and doing well in business classes and getting into business school to failing my program after a year and a half. I chose not to go back and never to study business again.
Cut to a few years later, and I was running two successful restaurants. One made upwards of $5 million a year and the other was one of the most successful of its franchise. So, imagine my surprise when I recognized the irony of the situation. I failed business school, but I could essentially grow and run a business once it had been established.
My point is that high school did not prepare me for anything past those doors. It did not prepare me for college or university and it certainly did not prepare me for the working world. My heart goes out to people who aren’t afforded the in-between space that post-secondary education offers. They can’t ‘figure out what they want’ typically. Hopefully, by graduation, they’ve already discerned what they wish to go into in the future.
This post is more like a PSA. What we teach kids have to change to reflect current times. More people are entering minimum-wage jobs out of high school to support themselves and their families. Some people don’t enjoy learning in a typical way, so college/university will never be a goal of theirs. And some kids graduate or drop out of college/university and are left to figure life out. So, why not start teaching them life skills applicable to being a good, adult human?
Some classes would take one week, while others would take a bit more time. Here are my suggestions:
- The basics of conflict management – I never learned this in school at any level. In fact, I learned it as a required course for becoming a leader in the restaurant. If I weren’t going to be a leader, I would not have learned these. This is odd since most job interview questions and college applications ask you how you resolve a conflict.
- Taxes 101: what are they, where do they go, how to read/do them – I’m fortunate enough to do my taxes with my parents. I give them what they require and their accountant does the rest, which is awesome. However, I have no idea what they mean, where they go, why I get money back or what it would mean if I had to pay.
- How to make big purchases: buying a house, a car or land – I’m writing this and have no idea how to do these things. I’m college educated, about to be university-educated, and 30 years old. Without some intense googling and asking other people, I don’t know what a mortgage is, I don’t know how or why I need a realtor, and I don’t even think I could afford a car with the job I used to have.
- How to budget and save: After the last point, it would be safe to assume that at least a few 30-year-olds don’t know what financing is and what’s a reasonable rate. Not only can we not afford a home, even if we could, we would also not know how to pay for it! How do I save? Do I invest in an RRSP and use that money? What’s the difference between a chequing and a savings account? I don’t know!
- Resume’ and Interview Skills – To make a living, most people at some point will work for someone else. To get to that position, you must summarize what you’ve done and tailor it to the company you hope to work for. Unfortunately, as a child of immigrant parents, I was in my mid-20s when I first had to compose a resume. To get my first job, it was a simple online application. To be in my position, I just had to work exceptionally hard and well with other people. My interview skills were probably sub-par, but I was 17. I don’t think they expected much. But if you don’t want to work in a fast-food restaurant, how would you even get your foot in the door?
- Romantic Relationship Skills – I’m sure that as a parent, this is possibly the first point in your kid’s life where you may actually have a heart attack. I wouldn’t know. I have no kids yet. But I have a niece and nephew and will legally do anything to keep them from experiencing emotional hurt. Cut to this class. At least they’ll be able to start a relationship in a semi-healthy way. This class would have basic sex education but also intimacy, how to get tested, how to ask your partner to get tested, what are red flags in a relationship and how to navigate them. These are basic things that people have to find out the hard way.
- Abuse and how to recognize it – this one is an unfortunate necessity. It might not be physical or sexual abuse, which many people know about now. It could be emotional, financial, mental, bullying, elder abuse, etc. This is one of the classes that would come with a trigger warning (even though they don’t scientifically help), therapists and anonymous conversations.
- Therapy Basics – this would be a natural extension of the previous topic. It would include what therapy is, how to find a therapist, how to pay for a therapist, what you should look for in your therapist, how it works, and who needs one. It would also include the dangers of trying to be a therapist to your friend who is going through turmoil and, instead, how to handle these types of situations.
- How to start a business – it would be obtuse of me to ignore that it’s easy to make money online. There are some nefarious ways, no doubt. But teens can be social media moguls starting at age 14. And with their newfound success, how do they build, scale, register themselves as a business and keep themselves and their content safe? This class would teach the basics of business planning and registering your business, a natural lead-in for those who actually want to get into business school. It would also highlight the importance of each participant in a company, starting from workers to them the CEO.
- Voting is a part of civic duty, and unfortunately, I just didn’t understand until it was time to vote. Unless you’re interested in politics, it’s a mystery. This is why this class will teach the history of voting in Ontario, why we vote, how to vote and most importantly, how to make informed decisions.
The final exam: As the teacher, I would create 23 real-life scenarios. The student’s job would be to apply a minimum of 3 topics you have learned to the given scenario, with evidence from the course, while introducing outside material that shows their understanding of the subject. I’m not an educator, so I wouldn’t know how to word this exactly, but they would get to present it creatively (either a presentation, an essay, a comic, etc.), and it would be open book. Since each scenario is different, there isn’t really a chance for plagiarism or cheating. And they would be allowed to get input from classmates. Because when have you ever been told as an adult that you’re not allowed to collaborate to present the best possible information?
As of writing this post, an announcement has just been released that Technological Education is a high school graduation requirement. As I read it, I realized that it’s a digital education course, and I’m not sure how to feel about it yet. I haven’t formed an opinion because I don’t know anything about it, but it has clearly been researched and is needed. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have made it this far. [update – 03/11/23: it’s a course that also requires learning a skilled trade or technology before graduation, so that’s a step in the right direction]
I believe that the classes I suggested above would be important, especially for young people who don’t see themselves going to post-secondary education right away. They could avoid it for a myriad of reasons, which is a problem in itself, but I think it’s the government’s and the family’s job to set them up for success. As you can see, the courses aren’t exclusive to those who won’t attend post-sec. It applies to any contributing member of a healthy society.
If you have any suggestions, let me know in a comment below! Thank you for reading.
Have a beautiful day 🙂