I propose the following as requirements for graduating high school

[Heddi]

and further as requirements for graduating college

I would have the basics taught in high school, more complex concepts in college.

Maybe that would cut down on the amount of anti-intellectual bullshit we see in real life, hear on the radio/TV, and read on the intertubes (health lounge, anyone?)

I have come up with this list having lived on the planet for 32 years, having been in high school and several colleges and seeing what we are taught vs. what we SHOULD be taught. These should be required for all students. No exemptions for students in either low or high level classes. EVERYONE takes them as a requirement for graduation.

1) Basic household accounting and finance management: How to balance a checkbook. How to make a budget. How to figure out what you can afford vs. what you make weekly/monthly/yearly. What signing a contract means. Why you cannot write a check if you do not have the money in the account to cover it. How credit cards work.

2) Basic living and working skills: How to fill out a job application. How to make a resume. How to interview at a job. How to dress for an interview. How to be a good worker. What responsibilities you have as an employee (calling out, showing up on time, leaving on time, etc). How to do basic household repairs (fix a faucet) Basic home-ed type skills (basic sewing, mending, cooking). How to read a map. How to operate a washing machine and clothes dryer, etc.


3) Human Health, anatomy, physiology, and biology: In my high school, one only got a mere taste of human biological functions if one happened to be in honours or AP biology. Otherwise, you took earth and life sciences and never even were taught the functions of the organs and different body systems. This class would go system by system and its major functions. Also would be a focus on human health and sexuality. Good health practices (washing hands, etc). This would be continued in college for a more complete understanding of the machine that is "homo sapiens"

4) Basic Logic: Oh, I think this would be a godsend. Start in high school and continue in college. Basic proofs and formulation of arguments and how to prove or disprove an argument

5) Basic Statistics: 100% of people surveyed said they would agree to this class being mandatory. Granted, only 1 person was surveyed....what about left and right skew? How a neighborhood can have a median income of $200,000 yet 99% of the people living in that neighborhood can be living in poverty. This would go well with the above logic class.

6) Typing. Everyone should know how to type correctly.

----

Any other ideas? Any other classes or subjects that you think we, as a society, would be better off knowing?

When I was in high school I got a good variety of classes, but only learned about budgets and household finances because I took an (elective) accounting class. Typing was an elective. Biology was only offered to those in honours and AP -level classes. Didn't get an opportunity to learn logic until I was in college, and same with statistics.

Granted, one cannot adequately fill out a standardized test with these kinds of classes (I hate standardized tests), but I think that these are important things that people are not taught unless they CHOOSE to take the classes in college. Since not everyone goes to college, I think it's important to at least have a basic understanding via high school classes.

and I don't think these are subjects that would be impossible for everyone to learn. Or at least no more "impossible" than English, Science, and the other classes required for high school graduation.

Any thoughts? Pro? Con? Other?

[cosmik debris]

1. The Scientific Method

and how it is abused.

Carl Sagan's Baloney Detection Kit should be part of the curriculum too.

http://users.tpg.com.au/users/tps-seti/baloney.html

[lizerdbits]

2. Basic accounting

We did something like that in 6th grade home-ec. We had $X per month and a list of things we could spend it on, the lesson being you had to make priorities based on what you have (no lessons on cost of living/poverty at that time). I was the ONLY person who put rent down first. Most other people were buying the stereo and new car payment and saying 'well too bad I can't pay my rent.' Must have been my dad's 'save your money, kid' philosophy which seems to have succeeded since I don't have thousands of dollars of continuous credit card debt.

Me in elementary school: I want to buy X.
Dad: Do you have enough money?
Me: No, can you give me some?
Dad: No, it doesn't work that way. You get an allowance and if you want something that costs more than that you have to save.
Me: IT'S NOT FAIR!

I guess my childhood whining was a small price to pay for adult financial self sufficiency (since I apparently got the message by middle school)- I could still be living there but driving a mercedes. Actually, a guy that I work with is in that situation with his 39 year old son....

I think all your ideas are good ones as well as the scientific method mentioned above. We'd have less woo.

How about basic nutrition? I once overheard a lunch room conversation by a woman on a low carb diet being shocked that her apple contained carbs. :eyes: Sure it's better than a soda and unlike soda contains fiber and is nutritious, but you should know what's in it.

And a civics or government class that has an entire month on spin/BS. None of this serving the people crap that just isn't reality.

[TZ]

3. I would expand logic into critical thinking skills...

like how to read scientific articles and evaluate them ---sort of a scientific reading comphrehension. Debating skills as well--that helps develop thinking things through.

[madinmaryland]

4. Great, just great. How would a be able to post in "teh" lounge. Seriesly, this is HUGH!!1!!

:hi:

[trotsky]

5. Oh how I wish threads in Groups could be recommended.

Because this is one stellar example of one that should be. I agree up and down that list with you.

[chicagomd]

6. Under point 3 or 4:

How to put on a condom. Personally, I would put this under "Basic living and working skills".

[dropkickpa]

7. On number 6

I suck at typing the right way. I've taken a brazillion typing courses, starting in 5th grade. No can do, not the "approved" way at least. I can't touch type, and am a total fumble fingers when I try to use my pinkies. But dammit, I can do surgery on a mouse!

[realisticphish]

8. typing courses be damned

instant messaging taught me to touch type. hours and hours of fast paced msn and aim convos have made me pretty adept at typing without looking. That and a background wherein i played the oboe, and you CAN'T look at your fingers while you play, but have to move around quite a bit

[dropkickpa]

9. Yeah, didn't help me

I played flute for 8 years, had no problem with that, but typing just eludes me. Even fast and furious IM'ing didn't change it.

[salvorhardin]

10. I type fairly well

About 60 words per minute when I have to. However some tasks requiring manual dexterity are just beyond me. For instance, I once had to take a test battery for a job that included various things like sorting columns of words into alphabetical order, basic logic exercises, etc. It also included a manual dexterity test that involved moving tiny little pegs from one pegboard to another. In short, I sucked. So much so that the tester suggested I see my doctor because surely I was into the advanced stages of Parkinson's or something. And yet I'm fairly accomplished using a knife in the kitchen (leaving aside the Tragic Bagel Incident Of 1987), I used to play guitar OK, etc. Moving little pegs about though, or manipulating little screws and electronic parts, or anything else that requires fine grained manual dexterity and I'm just hopeless.

[salvorhardin]

11. In addition to your biology requirement (of which I wholeheartedly approve)

I would also suggest an introduction to psychology, with a special emphasis on sensation, perception and cognition, or rather the multitude of ways in which our brains and bodies either outright fail or can be fooled by the real world. I have a strong belief if more people understood what the limitations of their brains and sensory/perceptual apparatus were they would place a greater emphasis on critical thinking.

[realisticphish]

12. definitely

people just don't know enough about how easy it is to get fooled

[YankeyMCC]

13. I think this is the right tract

keep the subjects few and fundamental. But I would add a reading and/or research tract to supplement the topics. So the topics you suggest would be largely lectures but and the students would have a syllabus of readings they must complete in history for example, and maybe some projects too that require use of all the stuff they are learning, vs just a 'math' project or 'history' project like we have now.