Learn About Life
With many people strongly believing that schools should be doing more to teach life skills rather than just “teaching to the test” across a plethora of subjects, it is strange that the debate around school cookery lessons is such a hot one. Surely cooking is one of the very best life skills we can all learn from a young age. Unless we adopt a “raw food” type of diet when we reach adulthood, the chances are that we’ll all need to have some culinary skills to get through life.
Now that we know this, just what is the problem many have with school cooking classes?
Not a Lesson
The biggest problem many have is that the children in schools aren’t really learning anything. Red tape and “Health and Safety” tends to mean that certain ingredients or practices aren’t allowed, or won’t be risked, in a number of schools, despite the potential benefits on offer.
Another issue that overshadows these lessons is that there generally isn’t actually a great deal of cooking that goes on. The focus might be on making dough, or getting a cake mixture correct, not on practical advice and teachings that could actually prove crucial in the years to come. Many people are fortunate enough to pick up bits and pieces from their parents in order to hone their own cooking skills, but what about those who don’t? There is an argument that, despite growing concern in developed countries around the world surrounding obesity and health problems caused by poor diet, education systems are doing little more that dooming children to a life of microwave meals and convenience foods.
People holding this point of view feel that more time could be spent in schools on more traditional academic lessons, although the best alternative would perhaps be physical education, so that the obesity and health issue can be dealt with.
Getting Familiar
In contrast, many argue that, regardless of what is actually made during a cookery class – and whether or not it is eaten – the familiarity that children can gain of the kitchen and how different things are used and operated can prove invaluable.
In a one or two hour lesson, someone with an interest in food isn’t going to turn into a young Jamie Oliver, however they could definitely pick up enough to begin to hone their skills. After all, isn’t schooling all about preparing youngsters for later life?
This article was written by Videojug. Videojug are a leading video content website, featuring thousands of professionally produced pieces of helpful video content. Videojug can help teach all of the valuable life skills that school cookery lessons didn’t, including how to make a meringue recipe.
My son’s nursery school has a huge emphasis on cooking and I think you’re quite right, it is an important life skill that needs to be taught in school. If more kids come out of school with some cooking skills, they’ll be less likely to rely on processed foods and all the unhealthiness that processed food causes.