When I was a young tough kid in the London slums we had a teacher who tried this, but it just didn't catch on. We called him Sir. I wish I had thanked him.
You got that right!
Not everyone is cut out for the military, but, I think most young people could benefit from a boot camp for life skills. This is something that could be part of high school. If we’re going to teach them how to use a rubber, the least we can do is tell them about doing laundry, balancing a checkbook, budgeting your money, how credit cards and mortgages work, how car loans work, etc.
I am enjoying this thread!
I remember wondering to myself in high school (in the early 70s) why they weren't teaching us the important everyday life skills that would matter most to us in a few short years.
It made me so crazy, that I elected to take the G.E.D. test and get out on my own early.
When I was a young tough kid in the London slums we had a teacher who tried this, but it just didn't catch on. We called him Sir. I wish I had thanked him.
The nine most terrifying words in the English language: "I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
Take note, because that's exactly what you just proposed.
If American parents need government to do what they are unwilling to do, i.e., educate their own children in "basic life skills," as is their parental responsibility and their parental right, then we as a society have far more serious foundational problems than young ones who can't write in cursive, balance and reconcile a checking account register, or tie their own shoes.
> “young people could benefit from a boot camp for life skills.” <
You are spot-on.
I don’t know how many times I’ve told my 24 year old son that the first thing that one does when he moves is to submit a change of address card to the Post Office; that way one stays up with their mail and BILL PAYMENTS!
GOOD GRIEF!