15 People Share The Skills They Learned In School That Are Absolutely Useless Now
You'll need to learn how to dissect a frog to succeed in life... said no one.
School teaches plenty of things that sound important at the time, then quietly disappear from real life. For some people, that means frog dissection, memorizing pi, or learning a dance they never used again.
This roundup pulls together the school skills people remember most clearly, usually because they turned out to be useless later. Some of the examples are funny, some are frustrating, and a few are just plain bizarre, but they all have one thing in common: nobody has needed them since graduation.
By the end, you may find yourself nodding along, because a lot of these lessons were never built for adult life. Read on.
Dissecting a frog.
In biology class, I learned how to dissect a frog and identify its organs.It’s a skill I’ve never needed since.That one stuck with a lot of people.
Types of soil.
The types of soil and clay in the ground here.As Dr. Yong Zhao, an education expert, notes, "The focus on rote memorization of facts, such as soil types, often overshadows the development of critical thinking skills." Many students find that while they can recite information about geography, practical navigation skills remain elusive. "It's essential to teach students how to think, not just what to think," he emphasizes on his website, zhaolearning.com.The Macarena.
We learned the Macarena in gym class in elementary school. According to Dr. Sugata Mitra, an education researcher, "Not all skills learned in school translate to real-life applications, and some may seem trivial." This sentiment is echoed by many who reflect on their educational experiences.Some lessons really did peak in elementary school.
Le French.
How to say “I travel to school by…” [helicopter] [spaceship] [rocket] [hovercraft] [other stupid forms of transport] in both French and Spanish.Another stupid phrase drummed into my head in primary school is “You are opening the window” (which we had to parrot when the teacher came in and opened the window in front of us).Seriously, when am I ever going to go to a French-speaking country and randomly tell somebody that they’re opening a window?Pi charts and stuff.
When I was in college, I knew this guy who had memorized pi to a hundred places and was trying to do 1000.He seriously thought he could get a job at NASA just by reciting pi to 1000 places during the interview. He also thought NASA used pi to 500 places for shuttle launches. As Dr. John Hattie, an education researcher, notes, "Memorization without understanding is often a futile exercise in education." You can learn more about effective learning strategies at John Hattie's website.That plan sounds impressive until you say it out loud.
Sin, Tan, Cos... never heard of it outside the calculator.
"I’ve never had to find the sine, cosine, and tangent of a triangle while not being allowed to use a calculator," says Dr. Yong Zhao, an education expert who emphasizes the importance of practical skills over rote memorization in today's learning environments. "Education should prepare students for real-world challenges, not just theoretical problems."The rise and fall of ballpens.
How to disassemble & assemble a ballpoint pen within 10 seconds.Gretchen Rubin, happiness researcher states, "The skills we learn in school often don't translate to real-life applications, leading to feelings of frustration and disconnection." This highlights how certain learned skills may not hold value in our adult lives.
Types of poetry.
Understanding the intricacies of poetry may seem valuable, but many find it lacks practical application in everyday life. As Dr. Ken Robinson, an education expert, states, "Creativity is as important as literacy, but the education system often overlooks its practical relevance." This perspective highlights the disconnect between artistic education and real-world skills.Somewhere, a teacher is still waiting for that poetry unit to pay off.
This reminds us of the “built different” era, like these vintage photos proving your grandparents lived in a whole different reality.
Playing the recorder.
How to play the recorder.deleted
Duck and cover drill.
I was in an elementary school in the mid-1980s that was still conducting duck and cover drills in case of a nuclear blast.As if ducking underneath a 1/2” thick piece of wood was going to save you from a nuclear blast.Learning Latin.
In the UK, some educational institutions continue to teach Latin. While it is true that learning Latin can facilitate the acquisition of other languages, many experts argue that it may be more beneficial to focus directly on those languages. Dr. Ken Robinson, an education expert, states, "The best way to learn a language is to immerse oneself in it, rather than learning a language that is no longer spoken." This perspective suggests that prioritizing practical language skills over classical studies could better serve students in today's world.Dr. Ken Robinson, education expert
Paper mache, anyone? smh.
My 5th-grade math teacher had us make anatomically correct hearts out of Papier-mâché for THREE MONTHS instead of learning, I don’t know, math.My dad was furious and went to the principal, only to hear that her hands were tied because this teacher couldn’t be fired or reprimanded since she had been there so long.She would also take time to sit us down on the floor to talk about menopause. Guess who sucks at math.Cursive writing.
Cursive writing. As a kid who went to elementary school in the 90s, we were told in 4th grade that we would need cursive because nobody wrote in print as an adult.In 5th and 6th grade, we were forced to do all of our work in cursive. By middle school, nobody cared anymore, and most people I know stopped using it.Hell, you don’t even really need cursive to sign your name anymore; most people just use their initials or scribbles...I’ve always found cursive very difficult to read because people write so fast that it’s challenging to decipher between certain letters and how many loops, swoops, and humps there are.That handwriting lesson did not age well.
Self defense.
We had a self-defense week in PE. It was literally just some guy, who probably watched some YouTube videos, doing demonstrations on his 12-year-old kid.As Dr. Janet Lansbury, a renowned parenting expert, notes, "Teaching children self-defense should be approached with care and understanding, ensuring that it promotes safety rather than fear." This was clearly not the case here, as Buddy rear-naked choked his son and calmly explained how to sink it nice and deep, meanwhile his son was furiously tapping on his dad’s arm in a vain attempt to get this psychopath to release him.We had an entire week of domestic violence.Wedding planning.
I had to take a class called “Women Leaders,” and for my final project, I was asked to plan a wedding for myself under a specific budget. As Dr. Farnoosh Torabi, a financial expert, notes, "Budgeting is a crucial skill that extends beyond just planning events; it shapes our financial future." Understanding how to manage finances effectively can be more beneficial than many traditional school subjects.That assignment says a lot about the class.
What did you learn in school that you find useless today? I don't know about you, but for an entire week or two, we were made to learn how to fold samosas.
I don't even know what a samosa is; I've never eaten one, but well, that's just how it was.
- Does folding samosas help me today? Nope.
- Has it ever helped me live my life? Nope.
- Would I have missed out on life by not learning how to fold a samosa? Nope.
But I still had to learn it, and no, I don't remember it anymore.
So, what did you learn in school that you find useless today? Vent below!
Some lessons are easier to forget than others.
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