Decision-Making Should Be a Required Course in Every High School
We spend too much time making kids memorize facts instead of giving them the skill that will help them throughout their lives
When I look back at the first quarter-century of my life in school, it’s hard not to be astounded at the sheer range of subjects I was taught: grammar, chemistry, algebra, European history, postmodern literary theory, film studies, and countless others. We all have a similar list, with some variation at the margins. But contemplating all those courses a quarter-century later, as a 50-year-old, what really strikes me is what was missing from the list.
In all those years at school, not once did I take a class that taught me how to make a complex decision, despite the fact that the ability to make informed and creative decisions is a skill that applies to every aspect of our lives: our work environments; our domestic roles as parents or family members; our civic lives as voters, activists, or elected officials; and our economic existence managing our monthly budget or planning for retirement.
I’m not the sort of person who gripes about all the useless trivia I learned in school; I’ve made a career out of finding meaning in the obscure realms of different disciplines. But I wish at…
