There’s no doubting the fact that kids are acquiring new skills today faster than we parents can keep up, (and hasn’t that always been the case?). Even so, there may be more than a few life skills they’re missing out on. Take these, for example.
### Driving
Do you remember when your parents finally allowed you to get behind the wheel? Just a couple of short decades ago, learning to drive was a rite of passage into adulthood. Nowadays, not so much. With the convenience of social media, kids can chat with their friends without leaving their rooms, much less their driveways.
### Cursive
It’s likely that your experience learning the art of cursive was either a breeze or the stuff of nightmares. Either way, it may not be one that your child shares. The new Common Core State Standards do not include cursive as a benchmark, so individual school systems are left to decide whether it’s still a relevant skill. While many educational experts say schools should be focusing on preparing kids for a new, digital era, others like Jimmy Bryant, an archivist at the University of Central Arkansas, argue that cursive is “a cultural tradition worth preserving.”
### Face-to-Face Conversation
Ever walked into a room where your tweens or teens were hanging out IRL (in real life)? If so, you know that kids today are just as likely to be looking at their screens as they are to be making eye contact. Some parents have become so concerned about their kids’ social skills (or lack thereof) that they’ve banned mobile phones at their kids’ sleepovers.
### Memorization
Most parents realize that rote memorization—which was heavily emphasized during our own school years—does little to stimulate valuable higher order thinking skills such as critical thinking and problem solving. But few are ready to concede that the ability to recall facts isn’t a valuable skill in its own right. Is the ability to google the answer to every conceivable question at a moment’s notice robbing our kids of this tried-and-true proficiency?Are you concerned that technology will make the skills you learned as a kid obsolete? Will these skills even be necessary in what promises to be a hyper-digital future? Only time will tell.
Note: The opinions above belong to Melissa Maypole, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility for Qustodio. Download Qustodio’s free software to begin managing, monitoring, and understanding your kids’ online media consumption today. For more information on digital parenting and online safety, follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
#### References
Is Cursive Dead? http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/04/30/should-schools-require-children-to-learn-cursive
Sleepover Survival Guide http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-01-18/features/sc-fam-0118-slumber-party-20110118_1_slumber-sleepover-roni-cohen-sandler
Teens Pump The Brakes On Getting Their Drivers’ Licenses http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/30/teen-drivers-licenses_n_4698288.html?utm_hp_ref=tw
