Life Skills.
JUNE 19, 2015
I had a really interesting conversation with one of my neighbours the other day that has been playing on my mind and I thought it was quite an important thing to share – especially with those of you that are parents or people who work with children. Barbara, my neighbour used to work in Education and had been invited to a talk at York Minster from Frank Field who is the MP for Birkenhead. Mr Field was commissioned by the Government to provide a review on poverty and life chances. The question was how do you stop poor children from becoming poor adults? As part of his research Mr Field asked a class of fifteen year old students what they wanted their education and their school to give them before they left. They had to list six things and they were not allowed to confer with anyone else. Here are the top three skills those teenagers wanted to learn:
1. How to be a good parent
2. How to make real friends
3. How to get a job and keep it.
Unfortunately, I don’t think these students will get lessons about any of these three subjects…. but why not? We seem to be producing another generation of people that don’t have many life skills.
Now that I have a child I am slowly becoming aware of our education system and I’m seeing cracks. I know the education system is pushed to the max and teachers aren’t paid nearly enough but I think we have to bring life skills and practical skills into our classrooms. Dom and I will do our best to give Nell as many practical skills as possible but unfortunately, their are too many children out there that will not get the same from their parents. Why can’t our children leave school knowing how to cook seven healthy meals – one for each day of the week? This is a simple skill that would help them to become better parents. Why can’t our children have lessons about self awareness, empathy and loyalty to help them find a true friend? And why can’t our children be taught to be creative entrepreneurs with practical skills so they don’t have to fear the job market? I know it’s idealistic but change is needed and maybe if we just made things a little simpler and thought about our wellbeing, our children’s wellbeing and their future a little bit more we would be a healthier, happier society. Okay, rant over. I will now get back to washing the dishes.
Namaste!
Lots of love,
Laura x