AIBU to think they NEED to teach car maintenance at school?

[MeMyCatsAndMyBooks]

Today my car tyre popped on a piece of metal left in the middle of the road, and I had no idea what to do.
I've been driving since I was 17 and I'm in my 30s and never had an accident touch wood or anything wrong with my tyres.
I instantly panicked as it happened in the middle of a giant hill and knew I couldn't do it there, thankfully a really kind man ran out and helped it be pushed to the side & changed my tyre for me.

I had no idea how to do it, or what a space saver tyre really was! Luckily I got it home driving very slowly & onto my drive and have my breakdown cover coming out next week to change the tyre.
But I just had no idea about any of it. Im aware I sound like a helpless woman, but im usually quite independent but this knocked me for six!

AIBU to think they need to teach car maintenance in school rather than pushing maths (which lets face it isn't anywhere as important) onto students till they turn 18?

Is this alongside or instead of cooking, diy, book keeping, budgeting, dressmaking, shelf putting up, sex ed and the million other "life skills" which the school curriculum is supposed to include? Which subjects do you propose are dropped to make room for them?

If only we had had a mass of online free resources telling us how to do everything from wiping our bums to building bombs complete with pictures and videos.

My dad taught me basic car maintenance, including how to change a tyre, when I was 17 and starting to learn to drive. I’m surprised how many drivers don’t know how to tbh. Even if you’re not physically going to do it yourself it’s helpful to know the principle.

Ridiculous idea for all the reasons alreafy mentioned. If schools taught all the things that people on MN threads consider to be essential and outrageously lacking from the curriculum, kids would have to be at school 24/7 with no holidays!

These threads are almost exclusively started by (and agreed with by) the people who didn’t pay any attention to any of the things that they were actually taught at school.

I speak to people daily who don't know how to top up washer fluid or check tyre pressure

Working on something at the minute where we do a drop in, you turn up and say "can you show me how to top up my washer fluid/how do I know when my car needs a service/what does that button do?" And we answer all your questions

And how will schools fit in the skilled mechanics into their payroll budgets?

Or parents could. Or local garages run courses. Or driving schools?

Schools teach food technology (i.e. cooking meals, food safety, etc), and textiles (i.e. sewing buttons). Wiring a plug is part of the GCSE physics specification. Drugs and alcohol awareness and safety is taught multiple times throughout school. Multiple DIY skills are taught in Resistant Materials, metal work and wood work or D&T. First aid is taught frequently in schools as off-one sessions but various aspects are also covered in Health and Social Care or the Biology curriculum.

Why do people insist on whinging that schools aren’t teaching things that they literally are teaching?

@CaptainMyCaptain I would have happily dropped science and French to do this.
I wasn't interested in science and wasn't very good at French...but they were compulsory. I got rubbish grades in both. Waste of my time, waste of my teachers time.
That's my point....far to many subjects are compulsory for GCSE when really it could be cut down and teens could actually do other things instead.
But the current system is all about academic success and nothing else.

I WAS taught in Sixth Form. Local council scheme... give sixth form girls the basic skills to get themselves out of trouble (such as a flat tyre on a country lane at night with no mobile signal)

A month afterwards... I helped my uncle change the flat on a strangers car we were driving past

Since then...
Route 66 in the US. No mobile signal, no other cars passed in the time it took
Car alerted me to falling tyre pressure... visual inspection showed nail, I was able to put spare on and take it to the repair shop (alone, DDs helped)
Car alert for plummeting tyre pressure on A1. DH and I changed it on hard shoulder. Took wheel to repair shop.

For something so relatively straightforward it seems pointless waiting for breakdow if you can sort it yourself.

If not schools... add it to driving syllabus and test along with stuff like oil checks and topping up screen wash.

You know, you don’t have to just choose math or car maintenance. It’s perfectly possible to learn maths and how to change a tyre. I did both when I was a teenager, along with how to replace bulbs, check and change the oil, wiper blades, coolant, etc.

Since then I’ve used the maths a lot more than the car maintenance. Even with driving maths has been useful to understand the best finance deal, which vehicle is likely to be cheaper to run, whether the milege my company offers is likely to cover the actual cost of driving for them, what the best route was for a complex journey, etc. And the math has been useful in all sorts of other areas of life too.

Good answer

Just pay for breakdown cover . I’ve been driving for 40 yrs and can change wheels and do basic maintenance - my dad taught us back in the day .

So many videos on YouTube, why don't you just warch one and do it on your car so you know how.

I learnt how to properly paint walls. Learn thos to pull up my laminate flooring without damaging it so I could sort out my subfloor, put new underlay down and refit my floor. Saved tons of money this way.

If I'm busy teaching car maintenance and how to apply for a mortgage, are parents going to teach the finer points of poetry analysis? No. Thought not.

Why is everything the responsibility of the school? Parents should be teaching their kids these kind of life skills.

I think some people forget that most learning doesn’t take place at school and that people, especially adults are free to learn new things whenever they want

Dont most insurances now include towing though? Ive had a popped tyre only once so far, but my car doesnt even have a spare. I just called the tow truck to come get me and they fixed it 🤷🏻‍♀️ was all covered by insurance.

YABVU.

Why does everyone think the school is responsible for teaching every skill in life?

I know it sounds radical but you could, you know, seek the learning and knowledge yourself?

No. Just learn with manuals / YouTube if you're interested. Otherwise call the AA.

No, and neither should they teach using the washing machine, ironing, bicycle maintenance or wiping your backside. People need to take responsibility for themselves instead of expecting schools to deliver life lessons.

Good grief, maths isn't as important? Maths is learning how to tell the time, working out how much time you have to get ready, and how much food costs!

Schools can't do everything. Teach yourself basic car maintenance when you buy it. Honestly, so much information every nowadays, and never so many people claiming ignorance... <grumble>

@MrsHamlet why would parents expect an English teacher (which is what I assume you are) to teach mortgages and car maintenance?
I certainly wouldn't.

To be fair, whilst I personally enjoyed it, it's not that useful in life, is it!

...and how much food costs
... and how much it costs to buy, fuel, insure and maintain a car, come to think of it.