8 things to learn in labor class instead of making aprons and stools

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

There are more relevant skills that will be useful to everyone.

What is wrong with the habitual lessons of labor

In different schools, labor lessons, or, in a new way, technologies, are organized differently. Yet for most of us, they were similar. Boys were engaged in carpentry and carpentry work, girls - in sewing aprons, nightgowns, dressing gowns. It seems that everyone is busy, everyone is busy with something creative. But there are a few nuances that make these lessons pretty pointless.

These skills will not be useful in any way in life

Let's face it. There are no situations when the ability to sew a dressing gown or make primitive furniture would be needed suddenly. What kind of situation could this be?

No, this will not happen. And if there is an acute shortage of aprons in the house, the average woman will not rush to sew. If only because buying a thing is a matter of two clicks on the marketplace. And to sew an apron, you need to purchase fabric, threads, a sewing machine. Stools, by the way, are also not made out of thin air and good intentions: you will need materials and tools.

So these skills are only useful for those planning to sew or carpentry in the future.

Skills cannot be practiced at home

To learn something, you need to practice. For example, make 100 lines before 101 is straight. Or trim 50 planks until perfect, knot-free. But a sewing machine and carpentry tools are not in every home, and especially not in every apartment. Which, in general, once again proves that these skills are of little use in life.

School curriculum sets boundaries

First of all, gender, but not only. But if kids have two rather useless hours of labor per week, isn't that a great chance to give them a try? At least - in the conditions of existing equipment - everyone can sew and bang stools. After all, one might think that men do not need to mend something, and women do not sit on chairs.

What should be done in labor lessons

1. Cooking basic meals

Unbelievable, but true: everyone eats. This means that everyone should learn how to cook. Moreover, it is not necessary to work out complex Michelin dishes.

Learning from scratch should really be from scratch, without any snobbery like "These are basic things." No one is born knowing how to choose good meat and make broth. Or how to cook porridge so that it turns out to be of normal consistency. Or that cutlets must be put in hot oil, and it is better to form them with wet hands. Finally, not everyone knows the meaning of the mysterious "until done" and "to taste", which are found in two of the three recipes.

2. Practicing primitive sewing skills

The ability to sew an apron may not be useful. But simpler skills - how. For example, what to do with a loose seam (you can simulate a machine stitch by hand to make the thing look like new). How to sew on a button, replace a zipper, mend a hole in a pocket. How to understand in time that you can't cope with it yourself and it is better to take the thing in the studio.

This is knowledge that is really useful. Indeed, even if you don’t repair things on principle, but buy new ones, sometimes you may need to sew a sock - because this is the last pair, and you have to get to the store in some way.

3. Learning traffic rules

Some schools teach the theory of driving in high school. Sometimes graduates even go to the exam - and they are handed a document that allows them to pass only practice at the traffic police at the age of 18 and get a license.

It would be nice to introduce all schoolchildren at least to the rules of the road (preferably before they get on the electric scooter). Traffic rules should be known to everyone: pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists. In many cases, this would greatly simplify communication and make life easier and safer. There would be one little thing left: to follow the learned rules.

4. Simple plumbing work

So as not to say later that life did not prepare us for this. Cases are different. For example, a ring fell into the sink and you need to disassemble the siphon. The shower head is broken and needs to be replaced.

Indeed, all this is quite simple. But again: no one is born with these skills. And it would be worthwhile to do something like this in an educational setting at least once before facing a situation where water is pouring everywhere or a family jewel leaks into the sewers.

5. Work with an electrician

Again at a primitive level. Understand what to do with a sparking outlet or a sticky switch, how to replace the plug, and how to keep it all safe. In general, even being able to navigate the types of light bulbs and choosing the right ones is already good.

6. Payment for housing and communal services

In all these intricacies - what is indicated in which receipt, what is considered, for what and how to pay - not every adult understands. Perhaps because no one told him this? (But Lifehacker explained to everyone.)

Other aspects of financial and legal literacy can also be added here. It will always come in handy.

7. First aid for household injuries

This could have been taught in the OBZH lesson - after all, the likelihood that someone next to you knocks over a glass of boiling water is higher than that of a nuclear bomb explosion. But, in general, it is not so important where they talk about it.

First aid is an area rich in mythology. Many have heard somewhere and are absolutely sure that when a person has an epileptic seizure, they need to put a spoon in their mouth (no, they can crush their teeth), anoint the burns with sour cream (no, it will slow down healing and become a breeding ground for bacteria), and An accident - urgently get it out of the car (if there is no real threat of an explosion, it is better not to touch it until the doctors arrive, otherwise the injuries can be aggravated). Therefore, an educational program with training on dummies may save a lot of lives.

8. Using tools

In ancient times (that is, 30 years ago), children mastered various everyday skills by observing their parents. Accordingly, if an adult did a lot with his hands in front of a child and attracted him to this, then at the very least he began to understand the instruments. Or forever lost interest in them - it depends on the pedagogical abilities of the parent.

Now the need to do something with your hands is not so great. It is no longer necessary to make a broken thing work with duct tape and prayers, because you cannot buy a new one. You can just replace it. And if there is a need for repair, it is always easier to entrust it to a specialist. After all, he has done this a million times, so he will quickly and efficiently do the job.

But the absence of the need to often use tools does not mean that you do not need to be able to hold them in your hands. Therefore, it would be nice for everyone to understand in labor lessons how to handle a screwdriver, drill and other gizmos that will come in handy in an ordinary apartment. And most likely, there will be no plane and circular among them.