Things I Wish They'd Taught Me In High School

 (Silent Universe - Dreamstate Logic)

A short time ago, I happened to be listening to a group have one of those whimsical conversations about how much they missed high school and the things they wish they'd learned while they were there.  Most of the things they listed off made me cringe a little, but it did start my own thoughts moving about what I wish I had learned while I was in high school.

Now, I say 'learned' instead of 'been taught' because there's a very real chance that someone was trying to teach me and I simply wasn't ready to learn.  That got me to thinking about my nieces, nephews, both of blood and of things thicker, as well as my God-son.  Would they be taught these lessons?  

Let me preface all of these things by saying that, in general, the sentiment that high school is there to prepare you for the real world is an absolute crock.  Very little of what I learned -- or was taught in an official capacity -- was applicable to the real world in high school.  Now, I can absolutely hear some people shrieking that, "You simply weren't paying attention/weren't capable of learning."  That's possible.

It's also possible that it's an absolute crock.

In that vein, here are ten things I wish I'd learned when I was in high school:

1. TAKE AGENCY FOR YOURSELF.  This might be the lesson I wished I'd learned most and why it's number one on my list.  It's unfortunate that this is number one because I am very confident that most young people cannot understand the importance of this because they have no concept of the consequences of NOT doing this.  Non-the-less, if there was a single thing I wished I could have somehow learned back then, it would have been this.  Take agency for yourself.  Take agency in your job.  In your health.  In your relationships.  Take agency.  I know adults that still can't wrap their arms around this.  The real world does not care about you.  Anyone with a fluffy platitude can go get stuffed about this.

2. DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP: Holy crap, this.  Mind you, the internet was still in its comparative infancy when I was in high school, but as someone who was online before the modern incarnation of the internet, it taught me things that most people in the world today simply do not know about how to behave online.  This won't be the last time I talk about this topic, but it's very high on this list.  This could be its own list.

3. FINANCE: Something something most Americans cannot manage their money properly something.  I'm talking about balancing a checkbook.  Strategy for savings on any budget.  Retirement funds.  Credit cards, credit, and credit ratings.  Investments.  You want to scale up classes with every grade in high school?  Screw Algebra 1 and 2.  Screw anything beyond basic Geometry.  

4. YOU ARE THE AVERAGE OF THE 5 PEOPLE YOU SPEND THE MOST TIME AROUND: Full credit to the wise and ferociously intelligent Dr. James Pearson for this one.  This is one of those simple lessons that has staggering implications. 

5. ACCIDENTS HAPPEN:  You do not always need to sue, to fight, to rally, or to seek compensation.  Sometimes accidents happen.  Likewise, there are appropriate ways to protect yourself and your loved ones from those accidents.  We live in a nation whose financial situation is forged in part on the simple belief that accidents are unacceptable and that an eye must always, always be had for an eye.

6. CRITICAL THINKING: This...could also be its own list.  Little things like, 'different is not good or bad, just different.' and, 'We can disagree and still be friends', and the difference between a discussion, a debate, and an argument.  Questions like, 'What happens tomorrow?'  Action and consequence. And the consequence AFTER the consequence.  Deductive reasoning.  Fact-finding, especially in the digital age of rumors and 'fake news'.

7: POLITICAL SCIENCE:  No, I don't mean civics.  I also don't mean social studies.  This is another one of those topics that shouldn't be relegated to a single class in 7th grade and another in 11th. This dovetails into item number 6 quite nicely...

8: THE IMPORTANCE OF FAILURE: 

9. RELIGION: ...There's no way in hell this will ever happen, but educating children about the major religions of the world would go a long way towards encouraging tolerance.  Come to think of it, this should probably be taught much earlier, but hey.  Like I said though, there's no way in hell this would ever happen.  Could you imagine the arguments that would break out over curriculum?  Could you imagine the PARENTS?!

10. DEAF STUDIES: There are so many reasons for this.  Looping in a huge portion of the nation's population wouldn't suck at all, to say nothing of the utility of the language itself.  There's also a great deal to be learned by observing and participating in the Deaf community.  

There'll be more discussion to be had on that whole 'Digital Citizen' thing, but that's for another time.