What would you teach?

[AENeuman]

I teach high school social studies for high school junior and seniors at a city college immersion program. On fridays about half the kids are in labs (then the other half the next week) . This leaves me with about 40 kids and 4 hours to kill. Usually we do study time, group building, college/life success skills and movies. They always have to write an essay on the movie. they have really enjoyed, "children of heaven", "dark days", and some frontlines.

my question is (both practical and theoretical), what would you do? if you could teach the youth something, what would it be? the kids are good, bright but bored. and really get into discussions on political, social and economic stuff.

thanks

[Leonidas]

I wish I had time to coach track and field. If I could teach anything in a classroom, it would be history (although I do not have the right degree to support it).

[Warhammer]

More than anything else, I would teach them problem solving skills. Another thing would be negotiation skills.

The way I would do it, is to start a class game of Diplomacy. Divide the class into teams, and have each student on a team fill a role (Turkish ambassador to England, etc.). I would make sure to play multiple games with the same teams so that players would realize that based upon previous experience, people's view of you and your word may change. The game itself is all about negotiation. The position you find yourself in on the board lends itself to problem solving. I would encourage the class to take notes, set long term goals, strategies, and how they hope to achieve these goals, etc.

One other thing, I would teach the kids how to compete. I really think that is a lost skill in the world, or a skill many don't realize they need in the real world. I have seen plenty of people that never go anywhere, because they don't realize the workplace is a competitve arena.

[Toddzilla]

FOF2K7 MP.

Duh.

[st.cronin]

Plato, Aristotle, Euclid

[albionmoonlight]

A general personal rights class.

I'd get into a lot of 4th Amendment issues--what the cops can and can't search.

The topic (where can you hide stuff from the cops) should get them interested, and the discussion naturally lends itself to fundamental questions about governance and power.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Although this is probably more abstract than you're looking for, one of the skills most noticeably absent to me in the work force is the ability to communicate effectively, so anything that improves their ability to make themselves understood would be a plus.

On a more specific point, if they're really into discussion of social stuff, you could probably fill an afternoon with talk about the social pros & cons of the new cell phone/text msg/email oriented society.

[stevew]

I would teach the kids how to properly prepare in a timely fashion a monster burger combo with fries, a drink and KETCHUP. And then hopefully the prowess of the average Hardees worker would somewhat improve.

[ISiddiqui]

More than anything else, I would teach them problem solving skills. Another thing would be negotiation skills.

The way I would do it, is to start a class game of Diplomacy. Divide the class into teams, and have each student on a team fill a role (Turkish ambassador to England, etc.). I would make sure to play multiple games with the same teams so that players would realize that based upon previous experience, people's view of you and your word may change. The game itself is all about negotiation. The position you find yourself in on the board lends itself to problem solving. I would encourage the class to take notes, set long term goals, strategies, and how they hope to achieve these goals, etc.

One other thing, I would teach the kids how to compete. I really think that is a lost skill in the world, or a skill many don't realize they need in the real world. I have seen plenty of people that never go anywhere, because they don't realize the workplace is a competitve arena.

That's an utterly brilliant idea. It's fun, and helps with communication and negotiation.

[rowech]

I'd have them read the book "Sophie's World" I've found my high school students love to talk about philosophy.

[ThunderingHERD]

Critical thinking and logical reasoning. My girlfriend is finishing her MA in english next semester, teaching some basic comp classes; I've helped her grade a lot of papers and its just astounding how incapable these kids seem of forming, much less defending, any sort of argument. For the one's that do (more or less)manage these basic tasks, their logic is riddled with fallacies. A book I'd suggest is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Crimes-Against-Logic-Jamie-Whyte/dp/0071446435/sr=8-1/qid=1165621361/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-5287594-9827343?ie=UTF8&s=books"><i>Crimes Against Logic</i></a>--it manages to be both insightful, informative, and entertaining at the same time. It's a a quick read and should appeal greatly to kids raised on the Daily Show(though the book is actually quite even-handed in its targets).

[Greyroofoo]

I would teach the kids how to properly prepare in a timely fashion a monster burger combo with fries, a drink and KETCHUP. And then hopefully the prowess of the average Hardees worker would somewhat improve.

winner.



Personally I would teach personal finance.

[AlexB]

Respect for others, in terms of age, culture and religion. Note - NOT political correct acceptance of others: I think you guys have a phrase somewhere at the forefront of your nation ;) - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Seems a lot of people should try and remember/learn this and the world would be a better place.

[lighthousekeeper]

Respect for others, in terms of age, culture and religion. Note - NOT political correct acceptance of others: I think you guys have a phrase somewhere at the forefront of your nation ;) - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Seems a lot of people should try and remember/learn this and the world would be a better place.

i think you need a gold ole' american ass whooping.
:)

[stevew]

winner.



Personally I would teach personal finance.

That too.

It's teaching everyone how to work at Hardee's this generation, the next one it's teaching everyone basic CSR skills, and then so on. We can only dream that some day we will drive the infidels out of existence.

[Ragone]

Problem solving is a good life skill to have.. and alot of my friends seem to lack.

Finance is another good one that was mentioned above, alot of people don't learn about it till its too late (aka chapter 11/7)

[CU Tiger]

Personal finance is a great one.
How many high school seniors can balance a check book these days?
MY wife actually implemented a program called "financial peace for the next generation" in her school.
It is a pre-packaged (so to speak) lesson in personal finance that doesnt include advertisement for one brands creit cards over another (it actually harps on how bad CC are for MOST folks)

Dave Ramsey is the creator of this program and apparently he travels the country teaching these and adult methods, though I have never heard him.

Point being my wife got probably 50 letters from home thanking her for this new skill the first year it was taught. It was set up to be completed in like 3-6 weeks I think, anyway, just a thought.

[AlexB]

i think you need a gold ole' american ass whooping.
:)

Yeah, I'm a sentimental idealist drunk ;)

[stevew]

Yeah, I'd think a personal finance, understanding FICO course should be a pre-requisite for HS graduation. Paying cash for everything is nice, but occasionally you are going to have to make some major purchases, if you can build a good score from the start, you will never hopefully have to worry about fixing it once you screwed up.

[Warhammer]

That's an utterly brilliant idea. It's fun, and helps with communication and negotiation.

Thanks! I've given this a lot of thought, especially after I had kids. Once I got into a management position I saw how many people really lack these skills today. Compare today's average worker to those that have retired in the last 10 years and will retire over thee next 5 and the difference is startling.

At least if some of the kids could learn these skills the world would be a better place.

[Raiders Army]

I would teach kids the value of hard work. That and luck sometimes gets you farther...

[JeffW]

Just social studies or in general?

Teach them basic probability. You can use games like poker, blackjack to make things interesting if the school will let you get away with that. Otherwise I'm sure you could use less gambling-oriented games.

[CU Tiger]

Yeah, I'd think a personal finance, understanding FICO course should be a pre-requisite for HS graduation. Paying cash for everything is nice, but occasionally you are going to have to make some major purchases, if you can build a good score from the start, you will never hopefully have to worry about fixing it once you screwed up.
I could not possibly disagree more with this statement...
Credit is the most aggresively marketed product in our society. And I do not think it should be a given that we must borrow money...delayed gratification int a bad thing.

[stevew]

I could not possibly disagree more with this statement...
Credit is the most aggresively marketed product in our society. And I do not think it should be a given that we must borrow money...delayed gratification int a bad thing.

If you plan on buying a house or a car, and do not have sufficient income to save up to pay cash for the purchase, then you must build a good score. I'm not talking about financing a stove or a TV or something to that effect. The difference between having a good score and a bad one, for instance, could be making the exact same car payment on a 2000 Ford Taurus and a 2007 Ford Taurus. On one hand you're getting assraped on interest, on the other you're not. If you make a great deal of money, and can easily put 5k together, it's more of a moot point.

[CU Tiger]

My point if you cant afford to pay for it, you cant afford to own it.

You dont need a 5k car you buy a $500 car and save money (the good news is a $500 car doesnt lose value) so you do without bling bling and in a few months you have saved $500 more you sell your $500 car and buy a $1000 car. Then a $2000 etc..

Its just a choice/spiritual difference. I choose to say no to credit, (yes I financed my house, but thats it)

[Galaxy]

My point if you cant afford to pay for it, you cant afford to own it.

You dont need a 5k car you buy a $500 car and save money (the good news is a $500 car doesnt lose value) so you do without bling bling and in a few months you have saved $500 more you sell your $500 car and buy a $1000 car. Then a $2000 etc..

Its just a choice/spiritual difference. I choose to say no to credit, (yes I financed my house, but thats it)

Have you seen a $500 car that doesn't need a lot of work and would last a good while?

In order to finance a house, which nearly all Americans cannot do without some sort of loan, you need to show you have a good credit score. And the only real way to do this is with credit cards.

[st.cronin]

Have you seen a $500 car that doesn't need a lot of work and would last a good while?

In order to finance a house, which nearly all Americans cannot do without some sort of loan, you need to show you have a good credit score. And the only real way to do this is with credit cards.

Um, no. It's how most people do it, but it's not the best way.

[cthomer5000]

Anything that combines problem solving and communication skills. Basically some combination of putting them in teams, putting them in scenarios, and having them work there ways out of it. Whether that be a scenario, diplomacy, some sort of mock trial (these business law classes i had in high school were the greatest), something that will get at least some of the kids to both think and then have to explain themselves in a public forum.

The personal finance suggestions are pretty good too.

[Galaxy]

Um, no. It's how most people do it, but it's not the best way.

What's that?

[st.cronin]

What's that?

Build a credit score. Per the various home loan officers I dealt with earlier this year, one credit card with a 0 balance for emergencies is as involved with credit cards as most people really need to be.

[sterlingice]

Build a credit score. Per the various home loan officers I dealt with earlier this year, one credit card with a 0 balance for emergencies is as involved with credit cards as most people really need to be.

Well, here's the dumb follow up question because I really have no idea: How do you build a credit score with no credit cards or borrowing?

SI

[firebirds]

This may be along the same lines as ISiddiqui's suggestion, in Civic's class my senior year we "played a game" called Utopia. The premice is that the entire class is stranded in a very livable but unihabited area. Zero modern day conveniences (electricity, phone, guns, machines of any kind, etc.), no outside contact from civilization coming or going and the most basic set of supplies. It basically started out with "ok, now you are here and this is what you have - what are you going to do? And by the way your goal is to establish the perfect society". The teacher introduced situations, questions, issues, problems, and the like. I'm sure he had some sort of a "teaching module" because, in hind sight, he very subtly proded, guided, led, directed the class in certain directions. If things were going to smoothly there was always something thown into the mix, like Jim caught John stealing, or George and Susan are going to have a baby, a wild pig just ruined a crop. The class took it very seriously and it was one of the more enjoyable projects I've ever had.

[stevew]

Well, here's the dumb follow up question because I really have no idea: How do you build a credit score with no credit cards or borrowing?

SI

You don't. My dad paid cash for our house, hadn't had a car payment in years, mortgage on the old place was paid off about 5-10 years prior. Well he wanted a card for trips(this was before the ATM Visa's) and actually got turned down due to having what I would assume to be a score of 0.

[CU Tiger]

You have to go out of main stream and find a lender that does manual underwriting.

When I bought my house all the normals turned me down (Wells Fargo, Ing, BoA, Wachovia) I had a ZERO credit score.

I walked into our local credit union (at the time I wasnt a member) and explained to them me and my wife made just over 100k/year. Had zero debt and showed them a P/L statement essentially for our household for the past 5 years. I explained I was prepared to put 20% down and they would essentially have no risk because from day one there would be profit (equity) in our home, because of the down payment.

I walked out with a 15 year fixed at 3.75% and $0 closing cost, origination fees, or points.

SO it is doable, just a little more work.

[st.cronin]

Well, here's the dumb follow up question because I really have no idea: How do you build a credit score with no credit cards or borrowing?

SI

No credit cards is not the same thing as no borrowing. Student loans, for example.

The point is that my credit score went up significantly when I canceled my credit cards that had a 0 balance.

[st.cronin]

You have to go out of main stream and find a lender that does manual underwriting.

When I bought my house all the normals turned me down (Wells Fargo, Ing, BoA, Wachovia) I had a ZERO credit score.

I walked into our local credit union (at the time I wasnt a member) and explained to them me and my wife made just over 100k/year. Had zero debt and showed them a P/L statement essentially for our household for the past 5 years. I explained I was prepared to put 20% down and they would essentially have no risk because from day one there would be profit (equity) in our home, because of the down payment.

I walked out with a 15 year fixed at 3.75% and $0 closing cost, origination fees, or points.

SO it is doable, just a little more work.


I did something similiar when I bought my house, found an outfit in Albuquerque that wrote me a very nice loan. What's funny is that he turned around and sold that loan to BOA, which had offered us roughly 5% higher interest rate.

[AENeuman]

Thanks for the suggestions. We do a finical thing with them starting in the spring. there is some great resources from the fed reserve. being on a college campus the credit card thing is crazy.

i'm going to do diplomacy. i found this site: http://www.diplomacy-archive.com/home.htm

any other suggestions, tips?

[Samdari]

I could not possibly disagree more with this statement...
Credit is the most aggresively marketed product in our society. And I do not think it should be a given that we must borrow money...delayed gratification int a bad thing.

And the people with the greatest interest in you not understanding how credit really works are the people marketing the credit. I don't think teaching youngsters the facts about credit can possibly be construed as a bad idea, especially suggesting marketers as an alternative source of information.

I understand what you are saying about delayed gratification, but people are right about car and house. Buying a house on credit is one of the best financial decisions one can make - even if they have enough cash to buy it. I think many of us would find it difficult to exist without our cars - and credit often makes more sense than cash in that situation as well.

[st.cronin]

And the people with the greatest interest in you not understanding how credit really works are the people marketing the credit.

This is an excellent point as well.

[CU Tiger]

Buying a house on credit is one of the best financial decisions one can make - even if they have enough cash to buy it. .


One point here.
I have heard many folks use the argument that you should always finance a house even if you can pay cash for the tax breaks.

The only tax break is on interest paid. And its ~%50.

So having a mortagage instead of a paid for house for tax reasons is akin to saying I will pay the bank 7,000/year (remember only interest, nothing you are paying towards owning the home only free profit you are sending the bank)to keep from paying uncle sam 3500/year...

No thanks, Ill pass. and If I really want the tax break, I will make it a charitable contribution. Same tax basis...

[QuikSand]

One point here.
I have heard many folks use the argument that you should always finance a house even if you can pay cash for the tax breaks.

The only tax break is on interest paid. And its ~%50.

So having a mortagage instead of a paid for house for tax reasons is akin to saying I will pay the bank 7,000/year (remember only interest, nothing you are paying towards owning the home only free profit you are sending the bank)to keep from paying uncle sam 3500/year...

No thanks, Ill pass. and If I really want the tax break, I will make it a charitable contribution. Same tax basis...

Your apparent horror at the notion of paying interest suggests that you are unfamiliar with the concept of opportunity cost.

If you "can pay cash" (your phrase) for your home, then that necessarily means you have that cash availble to invest. If you are able to invest it in a fashion that yields you a better rate of return, after considering the generous tax treatment, of the interest you pay on your home financing -- then you come out ahead by financing your home. This isn't all that hard.

I'm not suggesting that financing a long term purchase is necessarily good, but it certainly isn't necessarily bad.

[Warhammer]

Thanks for the suggestions. We do a finical thing with them starting in the spring. there is some great resources from the fed reserve. being on a college campus the credit card thing is crazy.

i'm going to do diplomacy. i found this site: http://www.diplomacy-archive.com/home.htm

any other suggestions, tips?

hxxp://devel.diplom.org/index.py

The Diplomatic Pouch - a semi-regular ezine regarding Diplomacy. It has been around forever.

EDIT: Make sure you give the class sometime to organize moves and negotiate with each other, don't try to blaze through a game in one class. Give them time to negotiate and discuss things with their teams. I'm not sure if you want to have one move per class, but I think that would keep things moving. Also, you might want to point out how this is going to benefit people in the long run, explain how it will help them negotiate their salary, work out buying a new car, anyone in the sales profession, buying a new house, and interviewing for a job, etc.