{{Way back when and long ago, my friend MommyPie asked me to write about the below. I thought I’d re-post it now because I’m in the mountains waiting for it to snow, eating too many Doritos, and realizing I’m quite unable to formulate a brand-new post. So…}}
…here are the five classes I wish they would have taught in school:
- What It Really Means to be Married: This class would do away with all preconceived, romanticized notions of marriage. Of course, it would teach that “love is a decision, not a feeling,” and that marriage is work, but it would also share that much of the time, marriage isn’t perfect, isn’t meant to be, and that’s OK. Personally, I think of my marriage as making me a better person because it is so challenging. I’m learning the art of being less selfish every day. I’m the type of person that if something comes easy, I don’t grow. And I want to grow (only in certain places). So in this class, I envision students learning about healthy expectations, personal fulfillment and emotional baggage. With a healthier, more realistic view of marriage, I think more marriages would last (OR it’d become clearer, sooner, WHEN a marriage should end.) And without a doubt, there are some that should.
- Why You Should Vote: This should be taught in middle school. I want kids to understand that election issues will affect every aspect of their lives. Political policies will impact what type of education they receive, what type of world they will live in, their socioeconomic status, everything, everything. Let’s build that awareness early on and maybe, in the future, we won’t have such an underrepresented youth vote.
- Be Yourself: The Road to Independent Thinking: Again, a middle school subject. Peer pressure is hard to counter, sure, but let’s get some other messages out there: different is good, different is valuable, different can change the world.
- You’re Part of Something Larger: Think Global: I don’t care how graphic the photos are, show images of Darfur, Iraq, starving children, kids toting guns, burning villages, chaos. Make people care, make them want to do something about it. Build global consciousness. Fight apathy. Do it as parents, do it as teachers, do it as children of the universe.
- It’s OK To Not Know: Enjoy the Becoming: There’s beauty in the unfolding. We’re on a path, and we don’t always need to know where the road ends, who we’re going to be when we grow up, where this relationship is going, the secret of life. Just stay on the path. Or wander off of it. It’s OK, I promise it will be OK.
So that’s my deal. Consider yourself tagged if you’ve read this. I’d love to hear what you think.
Great post and I have a few to add. My biggest one is Conflict Resolution. There should be a course on it. Maybe I’ll write about it. :)
I love these! Of course, mine would be a little different. “Creative Ways to Make Your Dumbassedness Seem Endearing” and “How to Keep Your Kid from Eating Boogers” come to mind.
I was going to write a similar post on something I wish I had learned, will link up! Also I love your class ideas. I need them now! : )
I want to go to your school. I might have to accept your challenge of writing our own follow up post. The wheels are turning… Have a great time in the mountains! Xo
I love the Be Yourself course. I try to impress that upon my kids every day. Not only in what I say to them, but just being unapologetically me. They’ve seen the struggle that it is at times. They have also seen the rewards.
As for the Marriage class… yeah… THAT one would have been nice. ;)
This is great! Must write a post about this, too! What about the “Everything you think you know about being a mom – toss it out the window” class? I guess tha would scare everyone away from having kids, huh?
I think I could benefit from most of those now. The first one’s my favorite. A class in realistic expectations (in relationships and life in general) could do some good too, I think.
Brilliant! I’d only add a Financial Planning/Budget Balancing course as a requirement for adulthood;)
Great post and topic. I could still benefit from ones you mention. I’m with Ginger on conflict resolution, my parents were good at keeping a positive front. It’s one that comes up in marriage, parenting & career.
I wish I had been taught about:
1. …codependency. Despite being very well educated by normal standards, I had absolutely no clue about this until my life had already fallen apart. Knowing general concepts might have helped.
2. …the importance of being yourself in a relationship. It would have helped to know about how different people come into a relationship with different and unspoken expectations, how some play games, how some like to always take the upper hand, how some manipulate, how some will take your very soul, and how the other might unwittingly give it away.
3. … about the different stages of life, and how wonderful they are when you get there, but to enjoy the moment you are presently in, without wishing you were somewhere else.
4. … conflict resolution, about how to argue your points properly so that you are heard, about figuring out how to meet half way, about the fact that always giving in is not the same as love.
5. … the most important financial lesson of all, the only one we need to live by: that we should never spend more than we earn.