What are somethings you learn at school that you won't need in life?

Cursive writing, also known as the written equivalent of mumbling according to me, may have been useful in the past when we used brushes, quill pens, and fountain pens, but it became irrelevant when ballpoint pens came along. With many kids now doing everything on computers, cursive is as useful as outdated measurements like drams, gills, and ounces. While it's good to know about the past, cursive isn't all that relevant in daily life nowadays. I taught for 13 years and couldn't understand my own handwriting when using cursive.

Algebra, on the other hand, may be useful for right-handed, left-brained individuals who struggle with Euclidean geometry. However, Euclidean geometry has real-world applications in fields like Art, Engineering, and Science, and it can provide the same answers in fewer steps than algebra. Algebra, in my opinion, primarily serves as a tool for people who never studied Euclid to tackle complex geometry and calculus or for Math teachers to teach algebra.

Sentence diagramming may have been marginally useful if my English teacher had properly explained its purpose and made it comprehensible. Instead, it felt like deciphering an e.e. cummings poem without any enjoyment. I still have no idea why sentence diagramming was invented, and this gap in my education affected my studies of Latin. Not knowing about subjects, objects, predicates, and prepositions hindered my understanding of Latin syntax and declensions for years. If sentence diagramming had been taught effectively, I would have had some understanding and not been the gifted student who had never encountered these basic grammar concepts.

Driver's Ed should have been one of the most practical classes, but the school failed to deliver. Thankfully, my Dad took us kids out in the car with two nested trash bins in an empty parking lot to practice driving and parking before we even took the tests at the DMV. If it were up to our high school, all we would have learned is how much alcohol equals how much whiskey, which is irrelevant to me as I have a severe allergy to alcohol. I simply know that someone who has been drinking shouldn't drive. Driver's Ed focused on how much alcohol one could consume without reaching the limit on a Breathalyzer. I remember our high school yearbook dedicating pages to the students who died in accidents, often occurring on prom night, while driving their parents' fancy cars. It's worth emphasizing defensive driving and being cautious of other reckless drivers on the road instead.