Should Survival Skills Be Taught To Children In School? Or, leave it to organizations like the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, to teach these skills.
The debate on the existing education system has been raging for quite some time now. On one hand, it is true that school education teaches a lot of valuable knowledge that serves as a foundation for higher education with subjects such as math, reading, writing, etc… But it is equally true that students severely lack in survival skills. A closer examination of education system and modern requirement can lead to meaningful insight regarding the much discussed issue of whether children should be taught survival techniques at school.
The American education system is appreciable as it teaches a lot of educational subjects like math, science and English among others that are essential for a proper education. These are basics of education and are absolutely vital if children are to become innovative scholars in their respective fields. However, on second thought, in the process of teaching these disciplines, are we forgetting the life skills that are vital for survival?
The lack of survival skills among school-going children raises a big question about the education system. While it is important to learn spelling, isn’t it equally or more important to know how to start a fire and what to do in an emergency situation? Simple survival tactics can be of great benefit and add value to the student’s quality of life. Survival tactics can also save lives in emergency situations. In fact, in life-threatening situations, the theoretical concepts definitely come second to survival skills.
The balance is tricky to maintain. Too much focus on either one can be harmful to the comprehensive development of our children. Also, questions can be raised if survival skills can be really taught in schools. School students already have too much to learn and additional lessons may induce stress. But an education that does not teach basic survival tactics can be considered incomplete. Should a debate on whether or not survival skills be taught to children school be necessary, or should those skills be left to the parents to teach?