Alyson: Life skills have guided me through my secondary school days and will continue to do so through my adulthood.
I STUDIED Life Skills when I was in primary school.
In other schools, this subject might have been given another name like Home Economics, but they all served the same purpose.
For me, the lessons usually involved a variety of activities and projects. We were taught how to sew a giant communal “class blanket” that is probably still draped across the sofa in the library; build a simple stool by painstakingly smoothing out the surfaces of wood with sandpaper and then hammering them together; prepare a handful of easy-to-make meals like Chinese stir-fry noodles, garlic thyme chicken, and banana chocolate-chip muffins (my favourite!).
We even practised some first-aid tips such as wrapping a usable tourniquet, assisting a choking person, and dialling 999 and speaking to operators in a calm and collected manner.
It was always a nice change of pace outside of the usual lessons where we were mostly confined to learning at assigned desks.
Back then, all I cared about was the fun that it entailed but as I reflected on my experience, I realised that it has actually benefited me in more ways than one.
For starters, it was a great way to learn the skills essential for living while under the close supervision of a teacher.
Although there are risks involved in having pupils handle fires and iron nails, I believe this is a better approach compared to having individuals try to do those things alone at home or as adults with no experience.
Life Skills taught me everything I needed to know about being self-sufficient. It was a hands-on experience that brought about many good memories in the process.
It instilled self-confidence in my capabilities for a job well done. Most of all, it taught me that it is never too early (or late!) to learn new things.
All these, no matter how big or small, have guided me through my secondary school days and will continue to do so through my adulthood. That is why to this very day, I still keep a small notebook filled with my teacher’s list of ingredients and recipes close by.
Nowadays, most secondary schools, including mine, do not provide such a class. While I have nothing against this system, I think that Life Skills can be a very useful subject for students. It teaches one how to enhance one’s lifestyle. Students cannot excel at their studies if they do not put their physical and emotional health first. In the same way, tertiary students studying away from home may struggle with poor health and little to no energy to complete their tasks or focus during classes due to bad life skills.
Life Skills as a school subject does not have to be all about learning how to do domestic chores like cooking and sewing.
It could also be adapted to fit the fundamentals we need to be taught in the present day, such as public speaking, Internet safety, writing a curriculum vitae, practising good time management skills, and even paying bills and filing taxes on time.
In Life Skills, anything can be taught, as long as it can be used to make life easier.
Alyson, 17, a student in Kuala Lumpur, is a participant of the BRATs Young Journalist Programme run by The Star’s Newspaper-in-Education (Star-NiE) team. To join Star-NiE’s online youth community, go to facebook.com/niebrats.
