Realised this year how much my 19 year old just doesn't know

[davidssdt]

Bit of a random one. My eldest is 19 and it's only this year I've properly clocked how much genuinely useful "adult life" stuff just never gets covered in school - not because teachers don't try, but probably more that there's never actually time carved out for it.
I had to sit down and explain what a mortgage actually is and why an unpaid phone bill can damage your credit file for years, because none of that had ever come up in school. Also had the apprenticeship vs uni conversation recently and realised there's no real structured way for them to weigh that up - it's basically left to them and whoever they last spoke to.
So for full disclosure, I'm actually building something around this (a curriculum site for 16-25s) but not naming it here as I don't want this to read as a plug. I'm genuinely just curious what other parents experience has been around this. What's the thing your teenager had absolutely no clue about until they had to learn the hard way?

Sorry you feel that way about the site. This is a first for 'patronizing'. It's also not a dig at schools at all, it's just a matter of fact that most of this has been in the curriculum since 2014 and the schools simply are not delivering it consistently. I am trying to help parents that are not able to keep up with the ever changing landscape or able and confident enough to teach their kids this broad range of stuff. Thanks for your input though

I am genuinely paying attention to the negative comments. I'm sorry if my response there came across defensive.

Why do you want to help parents when you couldn't even be bothered to teach your own child these basic things? And if you are in the UK, then the commenter was correct, it is patronising, not "patronizing".

Noted. Many thanks for your support and feedback

Unfortunately reading books has been on a massive decline for years and you are certainly not alone, many parents (and teachers) do not feel equipped enough to teach this stuff either. I appreciate your honesty in saying this as most of the comments have been the opposite.

I have been thinking about this too and have not finalised on the length of the modules or roughly how many modules per pillar. I agree I will have a job staying on top of the changes but I am working on some automation to track this. Thanks for the feedback

I actually find reading books is hugely popular with today's teens/young adults.
They go to book festivals and author signings. They buy special edition copies of favourite books.
Go in a branch of Waterstones on a Saturday and it's full of teens choosing books.
Obviously non fiction is different but I really would say that the YA fiction genre is hugely popular and doing really well.
Teens also read a lot on Kindle/their phones so even if you never see a particular teen with a physical book it doesn't mean they aren't reading.

Sounds like we are more on the same page than I initially thought. I apologise for being short with my response but your super brief claim took me by surprise. An 11 year old knowing about compound interest, ISAs, sole trader vs LTD, dividends, renter rights act, PAYE vs self employment.... etc is certainly very impressive. But I do agree that maybe some of these lessons and mindset should be instilled much earlier in a format suitable to the younger ages. Thanks for clarifying your point, I do appreciate it.

I wish and hope you are right as I strongly believe reading is beneficial on so many levels. Unfortunately the stats tell a different story. Just 32.7% of 8 to 18 year olds in the UK say they enjoy reading in their free time, down 36% since 2005 and the lowest level in 20 years (National Literacy Trust, 2025).

The thing is.... statistics are only going to come from children who are asked the question.
How many children from the UK population were actually asked if they enjoy reading?
All I know is that the vast majority of teenagers/young adults I know absolutely love reading.
(I know one who doesn't but he has a plenty of other interests instead)

No offence taken at all. I appreciate your honest opinion and agree that is a fair concern. The content will be researched from primary sources like gov.uk, with a financial professional reviewing the money content before it goes live. Not trying to replace gov.uk or MSE, more pulling the right bits together from a number of those reliable sources and explaining them clearly and simply. There will be a free tier when it launches, hopefully you will be convinced if you see it :) www.stuffschooldidntteach.com

Just out of curiosity are you the same bloke who was building the family flow app? You sound very similar but he did say he was using AI to write his posts.

Edited to say sorry for the gif, it was an accident & I can’t remove it.

Because they don’t read Jackie magazine they do not understand the importance of using one pad per eye to remove eye makeup and sweeping from thee inner corner out rather than going backwards and forwards.

But I don't see the point of going via a site/app to get information that been sourced from another site.
I just go straight to that site....🤷

I bought him a finance book at the start of the year which was really good. It was an adult one bit really accessible and built it up bit by bit. I’ll post the link when I figure out what it is - he’s in bed now so I can’t check

This matches what I keep hearing, it's less that it's not taught, more that it doesn't sink in until it's actually relevant. Also really good point on how hard it is to get an apprenticeships, that's a useful correction for the module itself, thank you. And for what it's worth, nothing here reads as a judgement on you, you're clearly doing the job properly, this is aimed at the timing gap, not at teachers or parents failing anyone. www.stuffschooldidntteach.com

Well, I guess that's me told then.
😁

Great idea and much needed.
How about percentage rates?
Geography of countries if the world
different parties politic
healthy relationships
blended families
travelling
Dealing with dodgy men
controlling boyfriends?

I think there could be more than one course here. A money-focused one, a relationships focused one, possibly a maths-focused one. Secondary school maths isn't very useful for most people. The maths a child has to learn to take a grammar school entry exam includes all the really useful stuff. I suspect that most people leave school without knowing (or remembering) that maths and how to use it day to day. Eg to compare the cost of items in shops, to check your change, to understand interest rates.

No I am not the same guy but now curious to see what he is building. Can you share a link please?

Really appreciate this. We already have some in the Health pillar, module 5: "Relationships: Recognising Unhealthy Patterns." and I have noted the others to research. Thank you www.stuffschooldidntteach.com

It's actually built as one platform with separate pillars - Money, Life Setup, Work and so on, www.stuffschooldidntteach.com so people can dip into what's relevant rather than buying separate things. The everyday maths point is a good one though, checking change, comparing unit prices, working out real interest cost, that kind of practical numeracy isn't really covered explicitly yet but maybe it should be. Good flag, thanks.

Things I felt I was missing was the more practical parts of life that my dad just dealt with. Changing a tyre, blowing up a tire, how w fuse box works, how to use a drill, etc

I can’t remember what the thread was called but it was on this board & something about family flow, I think.

"Terrestrial TV where everyone just watched whatever was on, was such a useful tool and helped so many people understand the world as a whole"

Yes this was how a few generations of people learnt about the world. Plus there was more educational programming, e.g. health and safety adverts about not swimming in reservoirs.

Now young people are only exposed to content they select and then they are fed whatever rubbish the algorithm either thinks they want to watch next or the algorithm wants to make money from.

My school made us all take a qualification in our early teens called 'Life Skills', which taught us, well, life skills. I think it was an hour a week for a term or so? Then a little exam at the end. Old school stuff like writing a cheque, but I expect they could update it for modern times.

Other countries used to have 'civics' lessons, where pupils learnt basics about their political and economic system so they could understand enough about politics to make informed decisions to vote in elections and basic economics. Also good idea, never took off in the UK though...