With everyone talking about free college education, I can only think about how crappy our current K-12 public education is. I'm not sure how much more I want the government getting involved in higher education when there is still so much to fix in just K-12. So, I propose starting with fixing what we got first, then working out way up. Therefore, while kids are still in high school, here are the top 10 things I would teach in what I like to call: Welcome to American Adulthood
1. How to Swim
This is a no brainer. It should be as common for adults to swim as it is for them to walk. The number of deaths that could be prevented along with the increased ways to exercise would benefit our people greatly.
2. How to Fill Out All of the Tax Sheets When You Get a Job.
I have gotten a new job every summer because I try to follow the money yet I still could not tell you what to put on the tax sheets when I get hired. Luckily most secretaries do know what to put down, but we might not always have that luxury.
3. How to Operate a Gun / Self Defense
Now whether you're pro or anti gun rights or even just a pacifist, I still feel like everyone should at least know how to use a gun and be able to defend their self. It's exactly the same as why we teach algebra. Sure you might never use it again but at least you know it just in case.
4. CPR/ First Aid/ AED/ Oxygen Tank Use
Everyone dies, but a lot of these people don't have to die so soon. However, they do die because the people around them did not know what to do. One of biggest killers of Americans (Heart Disease a.k.a Heart Attack) could be less of a killer if people understood how to use these 4 things.
5. How to do Taxes
I know everyone always hears teenagers complain about how they never learned anything useful in high school, but seriously, its an issue. Like I'm not saying we need to know everything under the sun and put tax consultants out of business, but a fundamental breakdown would be nice. Personally, I think it is ridiculous that I have to pay a tax consultant in order to pay the government. It's like having to pay the bank extra money for delivering the payment on your credit card.
6. Scholarship Applications / Career Week
A week of this class should be dedicated to students going online and applying to scholarships for college or grants for starting their own business out of high school. Also, students should be exposed to as many different careers as possible during this week. I cannot tell you how many S&T students dropped because they didn't realize the difference between a tradesman such as a carpenter/mechanic/pipe-fitter and an engineer.
7. Survival
This would cover mostly setting up a camp and being able to survive. So learning how to: hunt (or gather), fish, pitching a tent, lighting a fire, preparing meals, etc.
8. The Stock Market
I personally understand how the stock market works. I check it on a regular basis. However, I have no idea where to begin in buying or selling. Along with teaching how it works, they need to teach how to actually trade and what ways there are to do so.
9. Drivers Ed/ Sex Ed/ Understanding of Conservatism vs. Liberalism/ Description and Understanding of each Military Corp/ Description and Understanding of the Major Modern Religions
This could all be covered in a week and some of these things are already implemented but they need to be implemented across the board. Sure this sounds like a miniature Bachelors of Arts, but we already know not everyone wants/needs to go to college or they go into a Bachelors of Science so how are they supposed to be exposed to all of these parts of life. Working members of society won't have the want or need to learn these things on their own, but it is important to expose them to it in order to develop their own factually based opinions.
10. Fitness Test
Now I know this won't go over very well, but the fact of the matter is that while you may love your body, you should still be able to pass a fitness test or at least a BMI measurement. I understand that people have weird BMI's but are still healthy which is why there would also be a fitness test. Hopefully, if we require people to pass this test, they will build healthy habits and, in turn, this would make us a healthier country.
Bonus Round:
11. Be a Public Servant for One Year
If you recall, our system of government was based on ancient Greek and Roman concepts. If you look at the Greek concept, the city-states required that everyone give some of their life as part of the military in order to be a citizen. Some took it really far like Sparta making you join for basically your entire life. Others, like Athens, only made people serve for 2 years. The Greeks knew how important the military was to a free society because they knew a free society would never last unless it was made and kept so. Now I'm not saying everyone should join the military, but the idea that everyone at some point plays a part in their public society would make them appreciate their citizenship that much more.
