Current Events > "schools should teach me life skills and not Algebra"

(+) Yeah! (+)

no, your parents should teach you life skills AND algebra

teachers should just teach algebra, they're not your parent

its crazy how parents don't even help with homework or read books to their kids these days, YET still blame teachers for having stupid kids


---

https://www.reddit.com/r/unpopularopinion/comments/d4r67x/the_argument_schools_should_teach_me_life_skills/

---

Serious question, how are school subjects chosen?

Why is algebra important to a high school kid, and so is philosophy, but how to balance your check book or how to assemble your own PC isn't?

Why would assembling your own PC even be in anyone's radar as a school subject? Lol

---

Coastal_elite posted...

Serious question, how are school subjects chosen?

Why is algebra important to a high school kid, and so is philosophy, but how to balance your check book or how to assemble your own PC isn't?

Balancing a checkbook is math, no?
---

Why not both?

We had some sort of class that dealt with money issues. The only thing that was really useful or memorable was learning to write a check (aka learning to spend money). If it's going to be done, I'm sure certain places need an overhaul.

I'm sure it's on purpose that schools don't teach you how to be responsible with money anyway.
---

Coastal_elite posted...

Serious question, how are school subjects chosen?

Why is algebra important to a high school kid, and so is philosophy, but how to balance your check book or how to assemble your own PC isn't?

good question

i'd assume learning how to check book, doing your taxes, cooking, etc. would be the job of the parent or care giver and not the school/teacher


---

bluezero posted...

Coastal_elite posted...

Serious question, how are school subjects chosen?

Why is algebra important to a high school kid, and so is philosophy, but how to balance your check book or how to assemble your own PC isn't?

Balancing a checkbook is math, no?

I mean it's math, but in a very, very applied way, not an abstract "find the domain in Z when X and Y touch each other at 24,7 and X = 29.2 "

people always act like basic money management skills are this elusive & arcane concept that you need to be taught by professionals but all it really boils down to for 99.9% of people is "don't spend more money than you have"

---

Southernfatman posted...

Why not both?

We had some sort of class that dealt with money issues. The only thing that was really useful or memorable was learning to write a check (aka learning to spend money). If it's going to be done, I'm sure certain places need an overhaul.

I'm sure it's on purpose that schools don't teach you how to be responsible with money anyway.

Yes I seriously doubt that schools have the best interest of students on their minds at all, including colleges.

That is why they let kids enroll to get a bachelor's in "Medieval dance theory" or "lesbian water-crafted stoneware studies" or stuff like gender studies, women's studies, and dare I say even philosophy despite the fact that there are 0 jobs for those degrees.

That is why you want to study say, computer science and they still shove down your throat humanities stuff too, gotta make pay up!

Imo schools should primarily teach three things: writing, history, and philosophy. From middle school and up, I say. After that, if you're interested in any other subjects, you're free to pick and choose. But kids, humans in general, need to know their history, how to articulate themselves, and do it in a rigorous manner.

They do teach life skills, get up early 5 days a week and go to a place you dont really want to be and listen to a bunch of people telling you what to do.
---

There should be room for classes about taxes and investing along with important subjects like math.
---

I always thought this was kind of weird because I just don't think teaching 'financial literacy' does much to help people in general

---

TurtleInFreedom posted...

Imo schools should primarily teach three things: writing, history, and philosophy. From middle school and up, I say. After that, if you're interested in any other subjects, you're free to pick and choose. But kids, humans in general, need to know their history, how to articulate themselves, and do it in a rigorous manner.

why philosophy?

Romulox28 posted...

people always act like basic money management skills are this elusive & arcane concept that you need to be taught by professionals but all it really boils down to for 99.9% of people is "don't spend more money than you have"

This pretty much. People act as if it's something that needs a while semester of classes. You can learn it in an hour on YouTube
---

I learnt a bunch of finance stuff at school. Most of it is out of date and not relevant

Balrog0 posted...

I always thought this was kind of weird because I just don't think teaching 'financial literacy' does much to help people in general

Only harsh lessons can teach people about impulse control...
---

Reasoning and Intro to Logic 101 should be mandatory. I never had to take them, but I liked just sitting in and being incredibly validated.
---

I'm not sure that would do the trick either. I mean I guess the idea is that you're supposed to be learning how to think which should apply to many areas that aren't taught directly. but if you're just being taught to the test/learning to memorize facts then any course of any kind you take is going to have limited value. So I just feel like it's sort of a catch 22

---

SaccharineSmile posted...

no, your parents should teach you life skills AND algebra

teachers should just teach algebra, they're not your parent

its crazy how parents don't even help with homework or read books to their kids these days, YET still blame teachers for having stupid kids

Not everyone has parents to teach them stuff so it's not a fair expectation. My parents didn't even have a real school program in their country. Most people quit when they're like 8.

That said, you learn plenty of life skills in school. Reading and writing should be obvious. Personal finance is just basic math.

Real problem are people who were coddled their whole lives. Think money grows in trees. Everything is handed to them growing up so when they have to fend for themselves, they are clueless.
---

Coastal_elite posted...

balance your check book

do people still use checkbooks

Squall28 posted...

Personal finance is just basic math.

it is a little more than basic math

it's also risk assessment and understanding what is and isnt a good place to put money you need in X years

a lot of people go bankrupt because they "invest" in a friend's business (or crypto, or some other ultra high risk venture where probability of total loss is >50%) because they think the stock market is for rich people but they're investing with money they can't afford to lose (which should not be invested at all), or invest in proper aggressive assets with money they will need sooner than 30 years from now and then panic sell during a short-term decline, taking huge losses as a result
---

Algebra iz life skillz tho
---

TurtleInFreedom posted...

Imo schools should primarily teach three things: writing, history, and philosophy. From middle school and up, I say. After that, if you're interested in any other subjects, you're free to pick and choose. But kids, humans in general, need to know their history, how to articulate themselves, and do it in a rigorous manner.

History and philosophy are useless subjects.

History is biased storytelling that won't serve you in life at all. Philosophy is elitist ponderings. If you want to really learn to think, take math and sciences. Learn real logic and concepts, and how to manipulate it in your head. It's the difference between having a problem solving mind vs one that just wanders.
---

Coastal_elite posted...

Serious question, how are school subjects chosen?

Why is algebra important to a high school kid, and so is philosophy, but how to balance your check book or how to assemble your own PC isn't?

Thousands and thousands of years, entire eras dedicated to funding of the arts and sciences?

Teaching those variety of subjects is important for two main reasons which is the foundation of education:

1. Exposing our future generations to many different things to hook their interests and help lead them to future professions.

2. Have a wide variety of subjects stimulates and challenges to mind to help students hone critical thinking skills. So it's not about "How is this going to help me in the future" but more so of "This is a unique problem, your challenge is to answer it".

And this is completely anecdotal but the people I went to high school with are constantly complaining about how our school never taught them basic finance, life skills. Even though we all were required to take at least four classes that taught us basic management, investments, 401ks, etc... Schools do teach that stuff, it's just a lack of passion by the teachers or laziness from the students. Or a combination of.

---

Romulox28 posted...

people always act like basic money management skills are this elusive & arcane concept that you need to be taught by professionals but all it really boils down to for 99.9% of people is "don't spend more money than you have"

That's not enough. Saving your money will cause you to lose your networth due to inflation. I say people should learn to invest to understand how money flows and dictates the dynamics of the world.

TurtleInFreedom posted...

Imo schools should primarily teach three things: writing, history, and philosophy. From middle school and up, I say. After that, if you're interested in any other subjects, you're free to pick and choose. But kids, humans in general, need to know their history, how to articulate themselves, and do it in a rigorous manner.

I agree with this, assuming philosophy will employ mathematics in their curriculum.
---

Sackgurl posted...

it is a little more than basic math

it's also risk assessment and understanding what is and isnt a good place to put money you need in X years

a lot of people go bankrupt because they "invest" in a friend's business (or crypto, or some other ultra high risk venture where probability of total loss is >50%) because they think the stock market is for rich people but they're investing with money they can't afford to lose (which should not be invested at all), or invest in proper aggressive assets with money they will need sooner than 30 years from now and then panic sell during a short-term decline, taking huge losses as a result

I mean, maybe, but most people just don't invest due to not having the money to invest. These people are often scolded for not investing, even though as you noted there are plenty of people who have a high time preference for their dollars due to poverty

like I'm not saying this doesn't happen (I remember the dot com bubble and bust in 2000-2001) but generally speaking about half of US households simply don't have any investments in stock at all, and of the half that does a significant chunk are only invested through 401ks

---

SaccharineSmile posted...

no, your parents should teach you life skills AND algebra

teachers should just teach algebra, they're not your parent

its crazy how parents don't even help with homework or read books to their kids these days, YET still blame teachers for having stupid kids

Ugh.

The fact that this isnt ironic is... ugh.
---

Sad_Face posted...

That's not enough. Saving your money will cause you to lose your networth due to inflation. I say people should learn to invest to understand how money flows and dictates the dynamics of the world.

it is absolutely enough, life is dramatically easier if you dont make horrible & completely avoidable financial choices that leave you with unnecessary debt (cc debt, car payments, etc)

---

Well the thing is this...

Figure out which students can figure out advanced math and who just isn't going to. Most of us are only ever gonna need addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, decimals and fractions. The ones who aren't going to understand the math that goes beyond that...figure out what paths they should go down. Algebra, trigonometry and stuff like that just isn't in their future.

Balrog0 posted...

I mean, maybe, but most people just don't invest due to not having the money to invest. These people are often scolded for not investing, even though as you noted there are plenty of people who have a high time preference for their dollars due to poverty

like I'm not saying this doesn't happen (I remember the dot com bubble and bust in 2000-2001) but generally speaking about half of US households simply don't have any investments in stock at all, and of the half that does a significant chunk are only invested through 401ks

at the same time, middle and working class people DO put money into places where they hope for it to grow

but they tend to select the worst places--the peaks of bubbles (2001 stocks, 2004-8 houses, 2018 cryptocurrencies, etc), and ultra-high risk investments like friends' business ventures or other more overt 'get rich quick' schemes that are scams.

people have money windfalls from time to time, but for poorer households, the odds that the windfall is wasted are much higher.
---

guess what happens if you rely on parents to provide part of the education. who will do well, and who will do poorly?

then think about the biggest issues in this country regarding inequity and poverty

then think again about why we have the problems we have

Fam_Fam posted...

guess what happens if you rely on parents to provide part of the education. who will do well, and who will do poorly?

i really like this as a summation of the problem
---

We used to have Home Economics in my middle school and high school.
Learned how to balance a check book, sew clothes, make meals, prepare a budget, and that kind of stuff.
---

Fam_Fam posted...

guess what happens if you rely on parents to provide part of the education. who will do well, and who will do poorly?

then think about the biggest issues in this country regarding inequity and poverty

then think again about why we have the problems we have

Its like being home schooled really - it was never a good idea

---

I guess I just doubt how much of the information high school kids would internalize from some simple classes teaching them about investing and 401ks
---

Sackgurl posted...

it is a little more than basic math

it's also risk assessment and understanding what is and isnt a good place to put money you need in X years

a lot of people go bankrupt because they "invest" in a friend's business (or crypto, or some other ultra high risk venture where probability of total loss is >50%) because they think the stock market is for rich people but they're investing with money they can't afford to lose (which should not be invested at all), or invest in proper aggressive assets with money they will need sooner than 30 years from now and then panic sell during a short-term decline, taking huge losses as a result

Risk assessment and understanding whether something is a good investment IS basic math. Balancing a checkbook is basic math.

Addition, subtraction multiplication, exponents, and percentages are about as deep as you need to know computation-wise. Balancing your budget is very simple algebra.

Budget=Income-Necessary Expense 1-Necessary Expense 2- Savings-fun spending

Then you can modify your variables as needed.

Investing and calculating your return is just percentages and exponents. You should learn how to read stock charts through your algebra class as well when you learn x and y coordinates.

See all these guys here are hating on algebra when algebra teaches you your finances. Algebra in teaches you one of the most important thing of all. How to manipulate numbers and move them around. That's all finance really is. If people actually spent time developing number sense instead of complaining about how useless algebra is, they wouldn't be struggling with their finances.
---

Kids need to learn to save their allowance or whatever so they can buy what they want. That sets the foundation for good saving/spending habits.

Also Algebra is underrated. Really useful imo.
---

how about both?

do they not teach home economics in school anymore?
---

Squall28 posted...

Risk assessment and understanding whether something is a good investment IS basic math.

um, systemic risk is a stochastic effect and not something you can measure with algebra...and understanding whether something is a 'good investment' is not just done with exponents

Squall28 posted...

Investing and calculating your return is just percentages and exponents. You should learn how to read stock charts through your algebra class as well when you learn x and y coordinates.

this is really only true for things with such a long timeframe that systemic risk is irrelevant and average rates of return can be reasonably assumed

and even there, investment firms use monte carlo simulation to provide median and 90% low categories. this is not done with 'basic math'.

it's not basic math to understand that when you are investing for, say, a house fund, and want to buy in 5 years, you cannot be exposed to something that has an annual 40% value fluctuation, even if it grows at an average of 10%/year, because it might be on the low side when you want to take it out, in which case you might have less than you put in

while calculating this is simple math: (1.1)^5*0.6 < 1, understanding that you should do this calculation isn't. part of the problem is regular people have no understanding of what stocks do day to day or how to use the available information to use basic math to assess whether it works for their strategy or not
---

Uhh schools does teach you life skills.
---

How there isn't a subject on law is beyond me. Everything has the more detailed and complicated side then they can be Simplified.

Every kid at high school should know about laws. Maybe then the solicitors won't be sitting on their assets making 350 dollars an hour.

Like at the very least the basic stuff like copyrights, patents, defamation and libel. Hate speed, racism laws. Everyone needs to know these basic stuff. But we are not taught about them. Instead here's x and y and a few numbers. Work out x.
---

fenderbender321 posted...

Sadly there are too many parents that don't talk to their kids about money. My parents both told me and showed me how much money they made when I was about 9 years old, and then went over the bills and everything.

Some parents just say to their kids "none of your business" when they ask about household income and expenses which is not a good idea.

yeah parents shouldnt expect a school to practically rise their kids for them

Sure parents will say I dont know their situation - but hey kids come with adult responsibility


---

Veggeta_MAX posted...

Uhh schools does teach you life skills.

Yeah homeschooled kids are usually socially stunted.

HasaDiga posted...

Veggeta_MAX posted...

Uhh schools does teach you life skills.

Yeah homeschooled kids are usually socially stunted.

Dunno where people ITT are getting their info from. Back in Middle School I had a life skill class. They taught me to cook, clean and do a ton of house chores.
---

Idk why you would shit on algebra, when it is much more important in life than say, geometry.

Now that is a math subject that is useless for most people.
---

It's funny because my major is industrial engineering. Stochastics and simulation were foundation courses, and I don't bother with it for my personal investments. You don't need to calculate system risk for your personal investments. You don't need to to know about a "40% fluctuation." All that is just bullshit stockbrokers tell you so they can charge you out the ass for their services.

Almost everyone is better off just buying an index fund for their investments. People throw all this junk and pretend you need to be some wizard to get your finances together.

A person can become very well off with just basic calculations.

Know how to balance your spending with your income. Know how much loans really cost you. Know the value of investments with their expected ROI. If they don't have any historical ROI, then it's obvious that it's too risky to invest in.

You think I had to do some sort of risk investment not to buy cryptocurrency or borrow money to make an investment? You don't need to know the exact percentage of risk for stuff like this. Think about the actual risk if you fail (borrowing money to invest or shorting etc), and whether the investment even makes sense (crypto).

Lastly, don't think I don't know a lot of those complex, calculated figures can become garbage very quickly. They have dozens of assumptions, estimated figures, and other uncertainties built into them. Calculating the trajectory of an investment or anything that involves stochastics have giant margins of errors.
---

The biggest problem with Math is that they don't teach it properly. They teach people the algorithms but not the thought process involved that derives the formulas used in the first place. That's more important and more applicable. This is one of the goals of Common Core Math.

And crypto is the future. I implore you all to start learning about the technology and its applications; smart contracts, the insane flexibility and fluidity of moving funds, the oracle problem preventing smart contracts from having a real use case. This is going to change the world, how contracts are created, down to the very idea of trusting a man's word. That will be a thing of the past. Even if you have no interest or aren't ready to invest, do keep an eye on what all the big name tech companies and what nations are actively researching and investigating on.

chainlinkhub.com
---