Generic commentary on teenage priorities; no actionable investigative lead

& Teaching Minds We have learned that learning about how other people behave is very important. We have learned that learning about one’s own emotions and feelings is very important. We have learned that building confidence is very important. We have learned that learning to listen is very important. We also have learned that learning how to express oneself is very important. Now let’s go back to discussing learning. Why is it that teenagers are more interested in thinking about dat- ing than they are in thinking about algebra? Why is it that they don’t rate themselves on their success in dating in the same way as they do when they are discussing how they are doing in science? What do teenagers know about learning that their school doesn’t know? This is it: Teenagers know that the issues I have mentioned above will be important for them for the rest of their lives in a large variety of arenas, not just dating. No matter what they do in life they will need to form relationships, assess their own abilities, gain confidence through practice, learn to listen, learn to love, try things out and see how well they work, and learn why they do what they do. To put this another way: Dating is way more important than algebra and every teenager knows it. Dating is much more important not because teenagers have raging hormones and they crave sex, as this phenomenon often is described. It is important because what they learn while dating serves them in many areas in life and relates strongly to who they will be and how well their lives will go. Algebra relates to none of this and they know that too. So, let me ask a simple question: If we must have subjects in school, why wouldn’t dating be rated as way more important than mathematics? HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_023752