学校里不教(但应该学)的5种技能

In an age of standardized testing, students are spending more time learning how to fill in a circle with a pencil and less time learning skills that might help them get by — and get ahead — in life.

在标准化考试的时代，学生们花更多的时间学习如何用铅笔画圆，而花更少的时间学习可能帮助他们在生活中获得成功的技能。

Here are five courses we wish more schools would add to their curriculum:

以下是我们希望更多学校增加的五门课程:

1.First aid. Along with CPR, students should learn other lifesaving skills such as the Heimlich maneuver as well as first aid basics like identifying an allergic reaction, making a splint, preventing infection and bandaging a wound.

急救。除了心肺复苏术，学生们还应该学习其他拯救生命的技能，比如海姆利克氏操作法，以及一些基本的急救知识，比如识别过敏反应、制作夹板、预防感染和包扎伤口。

It's key for young people to learn lifesaving skills like CPR and the Heimlich maneuver. (Photo: Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock)

2.Home repair. It's amazing how many tasks there are to do around a house or an apartment. While most of us know how to unclog a toilet or hang a picture on the wall, far fewer of us can fix a drippy sink, change an air conditioner filter or hang a (level) set of shelves.

家庭维修。在一所房子或一套公寓里要做的事情多得惊人。虽然我们大多数人都知道如何打开马桶或在墙上挂一幅画，但很少有人能修好滴水的水槽、更换空调过滤器或挂一组(水平)架子。

 (Photo: JESUS DE FUENSANTA/Shutterstock)

3. Car repair. Even if we're not the drivers, most of us spend a good deal of time in cars each week, so it's important to know skills such as how to jump start a dead battery, how to check the air pressure in your tires and how to change a flat. Bonus points for classes that go over "simple" skills that many students are ashamed to admit they're unsure about, like pumping gas and checking the oil level.

汽车修理。即使我们不是司机，我们大多数人每周也会花很多时间在汽车上，所以了解一些技能是很重要的，比如如何启动一个没电的电池，如何检查轮胎的气压以及如何换胎。学习那些许多学生羞于承认自己不确定的“简单”技能的课程，比如加油和检查油位，可以加分。

What if you're by yourself on a rural road without phone reception and you get a flat tire? When you can't call roadside assistance, knowing how to change a tire is a safety skill. (Photo: SvedOliver/Shutterstock)

4.Swimming. Roughly 4,000 people die every year from accidental drowning. Most of those victims are under the age of 14. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for every child who dies from drowning, five more are treated in emergency departments for incidents related to drowning. Teaching kids to swim at a young age would go a long way toward minimizing these numbers.

游泳。每年大约有4000人死于意外溺水。这些受害者大多不到14岁。根据美国疾病控制与预防中心(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)的数据，每有一名溺水儿童死亡，就有五名儿童因溺水相关事件在急诊室接受治疗。在孩子很小的时候教他们游泳对减少这些数字大有帮助。

Kids who learn to swim possess a useful and potentially lifesaving skill that will be with them forever. (Photo: wavebeakmedia/Shutterstock)

5.Self-defense. When most people think about self-defense classes they think about learning tricks to break boards with their fists or karate chop their opponent in the side. But self-defense is about teaching kids how to protect themselves: how to prevent bullying, how to identify dangers on the street and how to react in an emergency. Self-defense classes help build confidence by teaching kids they have the power to keep themselves safe.

自卫。当大多数人想到自卫课的时候，他们想到的是学习用拳头砸板或空手道砍对手侧面的技巧。但自我防卫是教孩子们如何保护自己:如何防止欺凌，如何识别街上的危险，以及如何在紧急情况下做出反应。自卫课程通过教给孩子们自我保护的能力，来帮助他们建立自信。