Everyone has that point in their life, when they’re moving towards adulthood and suddenly they realise, they are completely unprepared. I’ve had it, and to be honest, its terrifying. The realisation that nothing you could of ever learnt in school would prepare you for life afterwards. So why is this? Is it because we were never taught the skills we need to manage money, pay taxes or face the everyday challenged of life? Once you step out of the classroom and into the real world, the gap between what school teaches and life demands becomes painfully obvious.
One of the biggest areas where this gap shows is in financial skills. Most people leave school knowing how to solve equations and do the math required for calculating taxes and income, but often aren’t sure how to budget, file taxes, or understand the value of money. This lack of real world knowledge leaves many people overwhelmed when it comes to actually making financial decisions. Especially growing up going to a private school, with relatively stable financial situations, often we don’t realise the exact value of money until you reach the older years of high school and actually have to start spending your own. Being educated on this before we reach this point is so important and necessary to help us avoiding feeling unprepared when our responsibilities increase.
Another thing we are never taught that’s vital for adulthood is basic skills such as car maintenance or first aid. These may seem small, but they are often things that can make a huge difference when it comes down to it. I mean, what are you going to do if you need to change a tire or your car breaks down on the go. Sometimes being able to do the work quickly yourself and saving money is a lot better and easier than calling road side assistance, especially if you are in an area with little or no internet. Much like this, knowing basic first aid for wounds, animal bites and things like heart attacks or strokes can be a life saver and prevent much damage that could be caused in the time it takes for an ambulance to arrive or to drive to the hospital.
So, instead of flicking through some presentation about hope or integrity that no one really listens to in mentor, why isn’t some of that time spent teaching us this sort of stuff we should know. Learning how to lodge a tax return, how to change a tire, how to treat a wound, and so much more would be much more useful to our lives as we transition into adulthood. School should be teaching us skills we’ll be genuinely using for the rest of our lives, as its essential that we know and understand these things. So until schools adapt, students will continue to step out of school feeling unprepared for the responsibilities that are to come.
