When they say there is no point learning eg poetry/photosynthesis?

[Zaor]

My DS is getting frustrated learning what he thinks are useless things in school. He can't see when he will ever need to use certain things and nothing I can say will convince him otherwise. Things he gets really upset about are poetry, Shakespeare, algebra long division, trigonometry and lots of other stuff. I've tried saying these things..

Nothing you learn is ever wasted, you never know when you will need it
They can't have a school curriculum just for you - it has to suit everyone
You don't know what you want to do in life yet so you can't know what may or may not be useful in the future
The teenage years are the time when you brain is best at learning so you should learn as much as you can now

Has anyone a more convincing argument?
Thanks

to be honest I tend to agree when my dd says things like this. my usual response is 'I agree with you, you don't like science so you are unlikely to go into a career that will use it. however its compulsory to sit the GCSE so that's its purpose- to allow you to pass the exam'.

I’m a Chemistry teacher so every so often get that moan.
In all honesty, much of the stuff they learn in school is kind of pointless! However, I always say to them that employers will be looking at the fact that you persisted with learning subjects you often don’t see the point in. It shows strength of character and resilience.

It’s not a utilitarian curriculum. As Tom Bennett says:

“We do not teach because it appears to be immediately practical and useful; we teach because we are helping children to inherit their intellectual heritage, the pearls and rubies of science, art, the humanities. We don't teach it because we think it will help them change a plug...We teach them literature, and mathematics, and art, and science, and a dozen other taxonomic milestones, because they are valuable; because they are important. Because without their acquisition, this generation is dislocated from the last one and every one prior to that, and every cultural and scientific asset is lost.”

For everything else there is a YouTube HowTo video.

I had this a bit from my DS, I also said the exact same to my Mum and Dad. I was so bored in school by what I considered to be irrelevant at the time. But the truth is that they do need to know it, they need to know what is required to pass their exams as that is the only way they will be able to develop themselves academically in the future. No exams = no real prospects later on. That's the reality of life these days unfortunately.
Perhaps none of us really 'need' to know half the stuff we learn at school but 'needing' to know something isn't really the point of education. That's what I told my DS.

It shows their ability to learn and to retain information or utilise information appropriately. It teaches them to be critical thinkers and to use evidence bases. It teaches them to manage their feelings and work hard despite being bored or fed up. It teaches resilience and perhaps shows how absurd some of adult life is too.

If you don’t know x people will judge you. Both motivating and true.

Plus, he'll be amazed how much of this stuff comes in useful once he gets into pub quizzes

School isn't teaching kids "things" it's teaching them skills. It doesn't matter if it's Shakespeare or the Calvin cycle. The point is you investigate and decode and understand.

On top of that Shakespeare shows you how humans think and behave and react. And it's beautiful.

I tell DC that it will make them a more interesting person and be more engaging when talking to other people as an adult. Or to get the winning answer on a pub quiz.

Who knows when you'd need to impress someone by knowing what photosynthesis is?

Understanding science helps with understanding the modern world and its issues. It also enabled my 88yo DF fix a gate post and rehang a gate without too much strain (via use of levers and pulleys).

Knowing poetry / literature helps bring joy to life, and helps you pick up and understand references elsewhere. My 15yo is now delighted when she hears a reference to 'a Jekyll and Hyde' character because she knows what it means. She also enjoys 'Upstart Crow' on TV because she 'gets' the references a lot of the time. (One episode she worked it which play it was before I did so I was very impressed.)

Trigonometry is helpful when chopping down a tree and deciding whether the end is going to land on your favourite rosebush or now.

Generally a well educated person is more interesting to talk to and has more to add to random conversations.

But short term, it gets you those GCSE grades to enable you to do desired things at 6th form.

worked out.

or not.

Loads of great arguments there ladies. I'll up my game with these as replies and just shut my ears to ongoing whinges!!!!

Thanks so much for the thoughts and advice...

Zaor