By: Ekite Lew

A common complaint amongst parents and students is that schools don’t teach kids skills they can use in the real world, like how to write a check or even cook an egg. By integrating a life-skills class, AHS students can learn basic skills about living on their own and the responsibilities that come with that. 

After talking with a few AHS parents, most of them agree that life-skills should at least be offered as an elective class and promoted in all Wake County schools. “Yes, I think it would be good for them to teach life-skills like how to go grocery shopping, how to budget a vacation, how to do taxes,” says Chad Lew, an AHS parent. Another parent, Linda Rice, shares how when she was in school there was a health and life-skills class that educated her on some key life-skills. “They taught me how to do interviews if I wanted to get a job and taught me how to set goals for myself so I could be more successful on my own” 

Another benefit to teaching life-skills based learning at AHS is it encourages better mental health. Although mental health is a sensitive topic, and there are many reasons behind the way every person’s brain works, life-skills promote training your brain to function in healthy ways. “By learning how to manage your time, take breaks, and drink water generally helps with your mental state of mind,” explains an AHS student. 

However, life-skills shouldn’t just be taught in schools; they should also be taught at home. “Parents should also be teaching their children life-skills as well…like how to manage their money and teaching them how to take care of their bodies…some responsible adult should be supporting and guiding them,” replies a AHS staff member. A big issue in today’s society is that parents aren’t raising their children; social media is. In order for students to graduate high school or finish college and say they can function and thrive in the world, life-skills need to be implemented within the school system.

As a major part of hundreds of lives, Apex High School has the task of giving valuable skill sets to students to help them function successfully in the future.

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