The consequences of the First World War, the evolution of the English language and proof by induction are important knowledge that students receive from school education. From a student’s perspective, we study to pass tests, eventually leading up to final exams, good grades and entering university.

But is this all really necessary and useful at all?

To be straight, the answer would be no. In a Harvard Ed. article, Lory Hough mentions the talk called the Future session by Professor David Perkins. He asks the crowd whether they had studied mitosis in high school and most hands went up. However when he asked how many people had still remembered, only a handful of hands went up and only one when asked if anyone had applied it in the past 10 years.

Although gaining knowledge from textbooks and teachers are important and interesting to some extent, the board of education should begin to insert more classes or mandatory lessons on life necessities such as first aid, that will more likely be important in the long run. According to First Aid Skills Death from the Guardian, “Up to 150,000 people a year could be dying unnecessarily because first aid is not widely enough known”. Especially in Germany where it is required by the law to respond to a medical emergency, it is necessary for most, if not all, to know how to perform first aid.

Furthermore, formal etiquettes should also be a topic covered in school, especially for students in 11^th and 12^th grades, where they prepare to go off to university. In special cases, students may attend workshops specifically made to help prepare them for jobs or internship interview or business etiquette. However, it is apparent that the majority of students worldwide do not have the experience and knowledge that they need to head out into the larger world. Although the journey to becoming an adult is a learning process, there will always be a difference in hearing something being told in class compared to being thrown into the deep end of the pool.

Although some schools have adjusted their programs to integrate life skills such as communication or how to deal with stress, many do not and students are left with little to apply to life past academics.

If one is lucky enough to receive a college or university education and have the opportunity to take courses beyond classic subjects like History and Geography, one may learn these sorts of skills. By this point however, research suggests it may be too late. Why should we spare children the truth or details of what their life will become?

We certainly are not shielding them from some terrible thing called Life because, believe it or not, your 8-year-old child is picking up more from you than you could ever imagine. So why not give them the chance to learn something they otherwise wouldn’t?

It is important to keep in mind that life necessities can be covered through the course of one school year in a classes as short as 40 minutes. However as much as school education can help students, life is not a 4 walled room with desks and a chair. In life things aren’t spelled out in black and white and given the time to analyze it. Life is a series of surprises that can be both good and bad. If we gave students a bigger look into what the ‘real world’ looks like, and supply them with classes on life skills, it will be of much more use to every single student no matter what they decide to pursue as a career in the future.