actually in my high school there were mandatory classes you had to take, named living skills: it included education on healthy eating, birth control and sexual diseases, drug abuse/addiction, how to do CPR, how to 10finger type on keyboards, how to properly behave (politely, safe and politically correct), how to write applications (not only for college), how to not offend your hosting country (very important especially when traveling as a group of Americans), safety around household, easy and simple cooking skills and a lot more fantastic life hacks. I really liked that class and my teachers a lot!

That's a really good idea, I would take that class.

Totally agree! I have started learning it a little bit, when I was working as a tour guide many years ago - but have nobody to practice with anymore now. It is such a universal language, so important to know at least the basics!

PFFFFFT! I'M DEFINTELY GONNA LOVE THAT SUBJECT

I think that's what Social Science is about.

This is basically how my Grade 6 teacher taught. Just wrote a ton of notes all morning or afternoon on the chalkboard for us to copy on paper. I learned a valuable skill: How to write something while your mind is completely somewhere else.

Luckily these classes were offered at all schools I went to, though they were mostly extra curricular classes you could take (but also got credits for). I went to public schools only, in the US, Germany and France: they all offered it, but we are talking thirty years and more ago...

c'mon matpat, we know its you

We learned a lot of this in our Health classes in high school in Australia. (BTW the Heimlich maneuver is actually not that effective and hard to get right. In Aus it has been removed from first aid manuals and back blows are taught instead. Do Americans still use this or is it just in movies?)

Most Australian primary schools these days have a wellbeing program that teaches social and communication skills which is great. This includes things like body language and healthy relationships etc. Teachers are also more likely to teach children through hands on, flexible learning. It was one of the things we focused on in my teaching degree. This includes critical thinking, and different ways to work out answers in maths. (I learned a lot more easily in the maths units for my degree than I did in school I think) It often amazes me when I see American tv shows and most of their learning is through rote learning or endless notes and dates and stuff. It is no wonder there are so many people who struggle with school.

Oh lmao I thought you meant kidnapping- as in teaching kids how to be kidnappers

We a lot about this in our Economy & Society class in Australia. We each did a projects where we had to do a mock purchase of a house, or car, or take out a loan etc. I really loved this class because it taught us some great skills. We even did mock interviews and stuff.

I think we did do this in Primary school but I'm wracking my brain as to what it related to!

We only got to do work experience once in high school (Australia). It was very similar to your internship. I think we had to get at least $5 a day for the two weeks to pay for transport. I went to a Kindergarten and got my first babysitting job from it :) The apprenticeships sound like what we could do in Victoria (my state) if we chose. If you didn't want to do study that usually led to uni, in year 11 and 12 you could do Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning, instead of your Victorian Education Certificate. Two days would still be spent at school, doing numeracy, literacy and things like community engagement. One day would be spent at a TAFE or Uni doing a particular subject related to the work you wanted to do, and two days would be paid employment in that particular field.

We did a lot of this in high school in Australia. In English in particular we learned about critical thinking and analysis. Each unit we had to relate our book/movie/newspaper articles/debates etc to the wider world and social norms in the past and present. We also learned about ethics in English, Psychology and Legal Studies.

I didn't do biology, so maybe they did this in that, but I did learn about animal testing when I did science units for my education degree. One of the very first lessons was why scientists use animal testing. My teacher did sound a little biased when she said she opposes any dissections in schools, but I completely understood her point. She also explained why being a vegetarian (or at least limiting your consumption of meat) is much better for the environment, which I don't think we had covered in school. These are things it would have been good to learn in high school.

Thankfully the education system (at least in Australia) has come a long way from the old rote learning style of the past and has introduced a lot more practical classes. I think one thing that would be good to go back to in primary school though is nature studies. My grandad was a teacher in the 50-90s and some of the things they learned about animals, plants and insects sounds cool.

In Australia kids still do a civics and citizenship unit in grade 5 or 6 (when they usually have a camp in Canberra, our capital city). Home economics is now separated into Food Tech and Economy & Society in Highschool and everyone has to do it. They also (at my school) had to try each of the electives at least once in year 7 and 8. This included Food Tech, Art, Wood Tech, Metalwork, Textiles, and Visual Communication & Design. That way you knew what they were like before you picked your electives in year 9.