9. Emotional Awareness

Kids learn quite a bit about physical health in school, in terms of how their bodies work and so on. The thing they don’t learn that much about is their emotional and mental health, or what happens in their mind. Yet mental illness rates among young people remain high, so the topic is clearly a relevant one. We wonder how much difference it would make if children were taught how to manage their own mental well-being at the same time as they were taught reading and writing. It might result in a healthier and more in-touch generation.

10. How To Fail

Resilience is such an important skill. In fact, in the world of motivational speakers, it is those with the most resilience who are held up as idols, those who have failed but continued to try until they finally succeeded. It is odd then that many school systems still teach children that they get just one chance, and that mistakes and failure are to be avoided at all costs. The truth is that learning how to fail is an essential human skill because it teaches kids that there’s more than one way of getting something done. It’s also a harsh, but appropriate way to learn that you can’t always get what you want. Of course as the dong goes, you might just get what you need.