Things we should learn before leaving high school

My daughter, who is now in the middle of her university years and living in an apartment for nine months of the year, was talking the other day about education. She asked a rhetorical question: why don't high schools do more to teach you about managing your finances, preparing your taxes, cooking, maintaining your house and your car?

I think she's right. We pick up many of those skills (or perhaps never even learn them) in an unstructured way outside of school, often to our detriment. What good is it to memorize some algebraic formula in math, or the parts of a flower in biology, if we don't know how to manage a household budget when we graduate?

Some schools are better than others, but some more courses or skills I would add to Lisa's list for all schools would be: mental health and balanced lifestyle, essential communication techniques, practical psychology (especially the role of the ego and how different personality types relate to each other), spirituality or meditation, personal improvement, citizenship and community building.

I realize schools can't do everything, but in my opinion a stronger awareness of some of these subject areas would go a long way to making all our lives better.

An incredible act of bravery

When I read the article in the Globe and Mail newspaper this morning, I was choked with emotion: school girls disfigured by an acid attack in Afghanistan have defied the men who targeted them and have returned to school. 

It's an incredible act of bravery that anyone who believes in fundamental human rights should applaud and shout from the rooftops.

Can you imagine?  These girls were walking to school with their teachers in November when a group of men on motorcycles picked them out and sprayed their faces with acid, apparently because the students had the temerity to want to improve themselves by seeking an education.

Now the girls, some with permanent scars and damaged vision, have returned to school. According to the Globe, most of the 1,300 students have gone back to class.  The headmaster, Mahmood Qadri, 54, apparently begged the families of the girls not to let the attackers have their way by giving up on their education.  The community listened; and acted. 

 

If your child had been attacked in this way, would she have the courage to do such a thing? Would you, as a parent, have the conviction to let her risk her life in this way?  This is simply amazing.
 
The actions of these girls and their teachers bring hope to Afghanistan and are a powerful symbol of the human spirit.  

I'm so moved that words cannot adequately express my feelings. Thank you, girls of Kandahar. 

Notes:

Read the Globe and Mail story here. 

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