
Not everyone has fond memories of their school days.
Reddit user, u/Stindo, wanted to hear what shouldn't be considered outside the box thinking when they asked:
What should be normalized in today's educational system?
There's key skills we should be teaching in school that are sorely lacking. We need a serious change and some of it can start with the curriculum.
Think Beyond The Obvious
"Critical thinking instead of school being a test prep factory that's designed to get kids into the workforce"
Let Them Be Who They Are
"Showing emotions. I was never allowed to show any negative emotion as a child because I "was just being a brat." No, I was a child who, instead of learning how to deal with her emotions now just bottles them up until it gets to be too much and I self harm."
Teach Them How It Works
"Proper sex education, and start it earlier."
"nine of the top ten states in the country with the highest rates of teen pregnancy per capita are states with abstinence only education. the tenth is D.C., but since that's not a state (yet), all of the actual states with the most teen pregnancies are those that tell kids to just wait until marriage."
Make It Matter, Not Pointless
"No homework. Kids need a break from school at the end of the day."
"It's an American thing.
I studied at a (good) private school in India; no homework.
My child goes to a (good) public school in the US; I'm just astonished at what he has do back home. It's like they want it to be a full time job or something."
A Relic From A Bygone Era
"I like how many schools are starting to do this, but it does need to be more commonplace: stop starting schools so early. Some especially high schools and some middle schools can start as early as 7 a.m., which studies have repeatedly shown that is way too early for many developing teenagers to focus and learn, they need their sleep.
Like I said some schools are going to later starting times for middle and high schools are going to after 8:30/9:00 a.m., but I'd like to see this normalized systemwide."
Best Excuses For Late Assignments That Were Actually True | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
A Tricky Situation
"being allowed to be able to leave in the middle of a class or lecture to go to the bathroom or attend to an emergency. its wrong to make someone wait especially if they really need to go and can't hold it in. also anyone with periods cant control their period and if it starts to leak or their period unexpectedly starts they should be able to get to the bathroom as fast as possible to get a new pad or tampon. you shouldn't be forced to sit and wait in your own blood. if you say you need to go to the bathroom teachers should let you go and not question you about it."
Let Them Do Learn The True Skills For Life
"Letting high school students fill their core and elective hours with classes that teach content they'll actually use. Plan to become a journalist and don't need Algebra II or Trig? Fine. Take courses in Logic and Argumentation instead. Don't need a whole semester just to learn Office? Perfectly reasonable. How about a class that teaches spreadsheets through real-life budget-keeping?"
"Ethical, fact-driven, wholly informative health and sexual education. What's that? Teaching something you know doesn't work to impressionable kids is unethical? Abstinence education is a joke. Teach kids about contraceptives. Rather than just grossing them out with photos of heavily progressed STIs, tell them the statistics about comorbidities, financial cost of treatments, etc. Also, LBGTQ+ sexual safety."
"Civics classes that build upon valid debate techniques and teach people to spot possible misinformation. Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't make them evil; often, it could be the case that they don't have access to the same information sources, or their own villainize it."
Then there's those changes which would completely rework the entire education system. These changes aren't small, nor are they easy to implement, but if they do then they'd be able to make a real difference.
Gather Your Mental Fortitude Before You Go
"I personally think taking a gap year before finishing highschool should be normalized. I was lucky enough to choose the right study that I love but a lot of my friends and people I talk to had to switch bachelors due to a wrong choice. Taking some time to figure out what it is you want to do is fine imo, but my parents and for a lot of other people want you going into to college a soon as possible."
Emphasize Health Over Goals
"Teaching individual fitness for long term health, rather than just team sports. I would have greatly benefited from learning how to weight lift and work out on my own VS playing team sports. I was a super shy kid, got bullied because I was bigger and HATED gym class, because it was all team based stuff. Would have been really cool to learn yoga, Pilates, etc. Anything individual."
Be Honest And Speak To Kids Truthfully
"Truth about drugs:
"Yes, they're bad, but saying a joint will cause psychosis or kill you after smoking one, only leads to the young smoking a joint thinking 'this is great, and I'm not dead' instant mistrust of personal and educational superiors. Dilutes warnings of drugs which can actually kill when used once."
"Respect youths with facts. Data. Talks from real recovering drug addicts, telling truths of their choices and the impact it had on their lives."
"Solution to problems like these should be battled at the beginning of a journey, not the middle."
A Vicious Cycle
"Better teachers.
Which, of course, can only be achieved with higher wages. Right now we're in a negative cycle of 'low wage' -> 'competent ppl choose other jobs' -> 'worse teachers' -> 'justification for low wage' -> repeat"
We Grow, We Learn, We Gain Knowledge
"A growth mindset amongst students - students that are performing significantly worse than others in school/in a particular subject often think that just because they're not gifted at the said subject, they can't really get better. That type of mindset's more detrimental to their performance than their actual intelligence/existing skillset."
Let Them Learn How To Recover
"Probably cliche but failing at something.
The system strives to produce an appearance of perfection which is really producing risk aversion and lack of critical thinking."
"As a teacher who teaches mastery over simple obedience, this is an uphill battle for so many kids. They'll fail at something, and then get all sad like they're a bad person or something. When I tell them failure is how we grow and that they can try again, they just can't even understand the words coming out of my mouth.
The fact that this is shocking to parents and even many fellow teachers is proof of how far we need to go. How the f-ck do people think it's okay to expect perfection from literal children?"
"Back in 8th grade a girl had a slight fever but her mom sent her to school anyway because attendance was important. Fast forward to a week later when EVERYBODY including me has chicken pox."
Taking Care Of Your Mind
"Mental health help/ education
Interactive learning
Less homework, less focus on exams, preferably no standardized tests"
At the end of the day we all want the best for our kids. Sometimes that means addressing a system that's been less than ideal from the start. Real change happens when everyone takes action, and hopefully kids will one day be that motivating factor.
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Dating and the search for love and companionship... What a nightmare.
This journey plays out nothing like in the movies.
Every Prince or Princess (or everything in BTW) seems to have a touch of the psycho.
The things people say during what should be simple dinner conversation can leave a dining partner aghast.
Like... do you hear you?
Redditor detroit_michigldan wanted to discuss all the best ways to crash and burn when trying to make a romantic connection. They asked:
"You're on a date and it's going really great. What can another person say to ruin it completely?"
I once had a guy ask me if I was willing to follow him into the woods, depending on the price of the meal.
Yeah. No steak is worth that.
Plans After...
"Thanks for the ride but I have a date with someone else, I figured you wouldn't drive me if you knew I was going on a date with someone else and I really needed a ride."
"Online dating, talked to her for a while, finally got the courage to ask her out and then she said that as we got there."
iareyours
Mirror Image
“'You look just like my wife!'”
catalinachild
"I did have a guy tell me I reminded him of his son. I don’t believe English has a word to adequately describe my feelings at that time."
UnicornMagicRainbow
"That would definitely do it."
chaotica78
Third Wheel
"'Hope you don't mind if my mother joins us.'"
ofsquire
"Actually had a girl do this on a first date because she had anxiety issues. Honestly wasn’t bad except that 90% of the time she was silent and her mom talked over her."
"I didn’t mind that much and wouldn’t have minded trying again when she was more comfortable except that she was let go at the company we worked at and she deleted her social media profiles and she never responded on her number. Ah well."
Seightx
Liar
"'Hey bro aren't you gay? I made out with you last night.'"
"Random dude I've never seen before in front of my (f) date."
JHXC16
Was he lying though?
Filter Issues
"'You looked better on Tinder.'"
waqasnaseem07
"Isn’t it basic knowledge that everybody looks slightly worse than the worst picture you can find?"
no_user_ID_found
The Past
"'My ex used to do that too.'"
xxIvyOF
"Yep. I’ve definitely had two otherwise-decent-guy date-situations sour because the ex-comparisons just would not stop flowing. No woman wants to be seen as interchangeable—I’m not here to perfectly fill that ex-sized hole in your life. Focusing on the present moment and a future we could build together is a courtesy we need to grant each other in earliest dates of dating."
LarkScarlett
Powerless
"'I'm an alpha, you cant handle my top energy.'"
Midnightgay28
"I actually left a dude in the middle of dinner, in part, for saying this. I ordered an Uber under the table while pretending to listen to him. Went to the bathroom, and never came back. That was when I was young. Now I’d just say, 'How about we enjoy this meal in silence, before we head our separate ways.'”
UnicornMagicRainbow
Mommy...
"'Mother says I should be back by 9.'"
"Saying 'mother says' just feels weird."
bunnyrut
"That gives me Norman Bates vibes."
Werewolf_lover20
"'Mother says alligators are aggressive because they have an overabundance of teeth, but lack a toothbrush.'"
sodaextraiceplease
Obvs...
"'If you were going to be murdered, what method would you prefer. Purely hypothetical. Obvs.'"
Specific_Tap7296
If it looks anything like a Dateline NBC episode... RUN!
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Despite the advancement of technology rendering people left to their own devices–literally–to entertain them, there are some leisurely activities that will never go out of style.
Or so you would think.
Do people still knit to pass the time? Are people actively collecting stamps?
It depends on who's asking.
Curious to hear about hobby trends, Redditor gizehgizeh asked:
"What are once popular hobbies that are slowly dying these days?"

Before we've become conditioned to living on our phones, these activities used to keep people occupied.
Before Texting, There Was This
"Letter writing."
– littlekingMT
Literal And Tangible Joy
"Well the internet killed pen pals for sure. I do remember I had a Japanese girl for a penpal maybe back in 2007 or so. I honestly don't remember how it started, pretty sure some website, but that was a fun experience. But now I can just straight up talk to foreign people real time, lol. But yea getting a physical letter that someone took the time to write and mail still is hard to beat feelings wise."
– skyburnsred
Model Trains
"When I was growing up, every town had a model train store in it. Now I have one in region and everything else has to be bought online."
– Hairy_Effective1172
Pretty Rocks
"Don’t see anyone playing marbles anymore, I had an awesome collection in school."
– sheeple85
"I had some marbles as a kid in the 90s. My grandma got them for me and I had no idea what I was supposed to do with them. I always imagined them as a thing kids in the 40s played with."
– Ryoukugan
People Were Moving Canvases
"Paintball has been dying a slow death since 2006. Sad, really."
– hobo_recycler
Before the general population began hating clutter, collecting was once a "thing."
Precious Coins
"Coin collecting... I'm a silver/gold nut and I'm always hunting for precious metal coins. whenever I go into a shop they get all excited because 'no one under 70 collects coins anymore.'"
– ThatFishySmell99
Post It
"Stamp collecting."
– spooky_scully_mulder
"Collecting in general, really. Of course there are still prominent collectors but it's slipped more into enthusiast and niche territory than being a popular hobby that you might expect anyone to have."
– iuytrefdgh436yujhe2
What A Gem
"Rockhounding was immensely popular back in the 1950's and 1960's. Personally, I think it's a fascinating and fulfilling hobby, but when I go to a meeting at a rock and gem club, I'm usually the youngest one in the room by several decades."
– filthy_lucre
People once enjoyed making things.
Admiring The View
"Stained glass. I learned how to make it from my old man, and my junior high art class teacher also taught it. Very few artisans are still around."
– brobeanzhitler
Metal Vocation
"Black smithing."
– kenworth117
"I bought a forge to try. It’s insanely hard work, and crazy expensive. I still haven’t finished a piece."
– DSentvalue
Scrapbooking
"Yeah. I'm watching the arts and crafts stores around me completely uninstalling their racks for specialty paper. Now the only thing they have is mega packs of repeating colors/images. To boot all the inclusions like papercraft/die-cut things, washi tape, scissors, stickers, etc have gotten so expensive I would rather go buy $5 bags at value village to get an assortment of things versus buying anything new. I really, really miss yard sales for the same reasons."
– Phantasmai
I envy people who have jobs that are basically their hobbies.
Not everyone gets paid doing what they actually enjoy and have a profound level of passion for.
If they do, kudos to them.
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When we first meet someone–whether through mutual friends, at school, or in a new work setting–we generally feel people out to determine if they're worth getting to know.
While the process could take time, some people make our jobs much easier after spotting instant red flags.
Curious to hear about our general radar of people, Redditor xxFluffie asked:
"What is something that makes you immediately dislike someone?"

Some people just think they are absolutely hilarious and never realize they're the only ones laughing.
Next In Line
"They laugh about having screwed someone else over. If you think you're not next, well, you'll learn."
– whiznat
Unfunny
"when you mention you don't like a thing and they immediately do that thing 'as a joke.'"
– wayfinder
Playing Devil's Advocate
"Kneejerk contrarians. People who, no matter what you say you like or believe, just have to dismiss it and say they like or think the opposite."
– BubbhaJebus
People who put others down get slammed here.
Bad Parents
"When they treat their kids sh**ty in public. I don't mean handling tantrums, setting a rule, having to hurry to the train etc. I mean perfectly normal-behaved kids getting in trouble for trailing along peacefully, looking at things, asking questions etc."
"If you don't like tiny humans who learn the world, why have them??"
– raxeira-etterath
Public Humiliation
"Treating people sh**ty in public for laughs. Like being rude to service workers because they think it’s funny. Big red flag."
– Ok_Personality_1080
Simply Uncalled For
"Someone who is a d*ck to other people or animals for no reason."
– xebt1000
Those with ulterior motives rubs people the wrong way.
The Scheme
"If they try to get me to join their MLM scheme."
– spazmcgee1
Hard Sell
"A guy I used to be friends with in high school reached out a couple of years after graduating about a business opportunity he wanted my opinion on because 'you've always been smart', then he set up a Skype call and brought some other dude into the call and they started trying to sell me on what was clearly an MLM scheme. The guy went from friend to 'I'm never talking to you again' in a matter of 10 minutes."
– Mental-Afternoon-164
A Timeline
"Good gawd, this! I've had more than one exposure to this abject bullsh**tery..."
- Back in the late 80's/early 90's I was invited to a meeting of literally the OG "Pyramid" where you're recruited to pay in, and then you go out and recruit others to pay in, and the last in line got f'kall.
- In 1995 I had a coworker try to reel me into Amway, which was a hard no.
- In 2000 it was Pampered Chef, though to be fair they did have useful products.
- In 2009 a coworker tried to get me into some stupid video calling service that was obviously stupid from the description. He even got offended when I called bullsh*t.
– Mystical_Cat
Too much ego is a no-go.
I Can Do Better
"Being a b*tch just to stroke their own ego."
"We get it, you can lift 5lbs more than the 12 year old, you don't have to rub it in their face just because you're slightly better"
– Livia_Pivia
Can't Top This
"Oh, you did <story that's been told>? That's nothing! I did <implausible story>.
"I get the whole empathy through relating common experience, and I'm someone who does that (which drives some people crazy on its own), but there's a big different by empathising through common experience, and one-upmanship."
– Tisarwat
Lacking Conversational Etiquette
"Starting to talk over me when I was already talking."
"Stop it you rude, arrogant jerk."
– R33Gtst
If one or more of these traits sound familiar to you, you're not alone.
We don't have time for braggadocios, pyramid-schemers, and conversation interrupters.
And that's just for starters.
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Children tend to believe just about anything they hear.
That there are monsters under your bed, watching too much TV will make your head explode, and silly faces will be permanent if you make them too often.
The sky is truly the limit when it comes to silly things that children will believe.
Some call it naivitée, other's youthful innocence.
But it's hard not to look back with embarrassment on certain things we believed as a child, that today might simply seem dumb.
Redditor Disastrous_Toe_6548 was curious to learn the multitude of silly things people believed when they were children, leading them to ask:
"What's the dumbest thing you believed as a kid?"
Pleading to deaf ears...
"My dad told me he had hearing loss and couldn't hear me if I whined because my pitch would get too high."
"Would completely ignore me until I asked him questions in a normal voice."
"Trusted him implicitly until I was 12 and he yelled at my younger brother for whining."- Tyrion_Stark.
Get it while you can.
"That they took everything off the shelves when the supermarket closed."- fgyfddg.
Silly superstitions.
"My grandfather used to tell me that if I played with the fire, I'd pee the bed."
"I believed him for a while, until I got older."
"I think he was just trying to protect me from the fire."- teddypa1981.
"Rain, rain go away..."
"That if it was raining where I was, it was raining everywhere in the world."- morningshartz.
Age is just a number.
"My parents used to seem really old to me, so much so I believed they grew up like cave people as children, wearing giant leaves for clothes and what not."- Laleena_.
So that's how they're made!
"That smokestacks from the power plant created clouds."- Scaniarix.
An instant cure.
"The sun gives you sunburns, therefore, moonlight should heal them."- velocipeter.
Better safe than sorry.
"Don't drink and drive meant all drinks."
"My dad was super confused when I told him he wasn't allowed to have any soda until we got home."- hulagirlslovetoparty.
Don't believe everything you see on TV.
"There was an episode of Mickey Mouse where Mickey couldn’t reach something at first, so he tried again and somehow his arm was long enough to reach it."
"As a small kid I believed that if I couldn’t reach something, I should just try reaching for it again and my arm would then somehow be long enough to reach it."- That-Dutch-Person.
The miracle of childbirth.
"That babies are pooped out."
"When I was like 7 I was listening to my aunt as she explained that childbirth was pretty intense and painful for her, and I was all solemnly like, 'yeah, sometimes just my poops are painful, I don’t think I could get a baby out' and she went 'um, WHAT?' and her reaction made me realize real quick that I had f*cked up somewhere and I tried to change the subject while my mind was just reeling lol."- thesoundingfurrows.
Oh to be a child again.
And to believe literally everything you're told.
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