Learning how to locate resources for help - Google is your friend! You don’t always have to ask Mom or Dad for help - you can find out stuff on your own.
Navigating around town once you have your license. Maine is NOT complicated, but DD 17 is still cluelesss. I just realized she has no idea if we’re located north or south of Portland, the major city in our area, even though she goes there once a week or so. "Uh, you know where the ocean is - that’s EAST!
Hold a conversation without using slang or colloquial language.
Post #18, for one car, it’s really easy, my husband show my kid how to do it. But if there is no time in as too busy, she can take her car to jiffy lube. But she did have to learn to change a tire once.
I thought this was something our kids taught us!
Lol, our kids taught us NOT to use Thomas Guides.
Even if you can’t change a tire you should know where to add the windshield washer fluid in a car.
I haven’t read the other replies but I think that a 16 should have basic values such as honesty, a sense of personal responsibility, be well grounded in hard work leading to getting the things one wants, know how to read, write and do basic math. If one has those skills/traits I think everything else can be acquired later. In other words, no one is behind schedule just because they have a messy room, can’t cook and don’t know what a carburetor is.
In addition to the thank you note, how to write a condolence note and how to dress properly in a house of worship.
And how to act at a play or other live performance that’s not a rock band!
Despite having been taught by her father how to check and add oil, and the importance of doing so, our daughter managed to ignore the oil light and burned out an engine on a perfectly good, albeit older, car. She also called us in a panic when her replacement car wouldn’t start. Her boyfriend had no idea how to remove the battery and take it to AutoZone to have it tested, but he did it with some coaching and yes, the battery needed to be replaced.
Now she can check and add oil, check fluid levels in the battery, duct-tape her bumper back on, knows what happens with an alternator dies, and how to call AAA when she has a flat tire. Not great, but better than before!
Most important: to be able to do the right thing rather than the easy, attractive or popular thing–this is a skill many adults have yet to master.
Telephone skill. Kids need to introduce themselves before asking for the parents for their friends. I found too many that are rude unknowingly, their parents are not immigrants either.
The car one is outdated, as many have pointed out, but I don’t think anyone has mentioned that the reason is that nearly everything regarding car maintenance these days is computer driven, and without the (very expensive) diagnostic equipment there isn’t a prayer of being able to service a car yourself.
I would even say that changing one’s own oil and filter is archaic. It is so much easier to go into an oil change place and the cost is virtually identical, as long as you don’t let them upsell you. Plus they check other things at the same time such as windshield fluid, etc. that might be overlooked otherwise. I would say changing a tire is about the only one I would say people should know for themselves.
There have been several good suggestions to replace that clunker. Get it? Clunker? Cars?? No?? Oh well.
How to write an address on a snail mail envelope
I have been fighting depression for over a decade and I have free range parents. <<<<
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My views are skewed because I was left alone for months at a time when I was 16.
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Gosh Romani, I don’t think i could have left a child for months at a time when they have been struggling with depression.
If I was making my own list…
Laundry skills are a must.
Cooking simple things, i.e, pasta, pancakes, eggs- not necessary (yet) to know how to roast the thanksgiving turkey.
Schedule and keep your own doctor/dentist appointments.
Know your social security number.
Table manners! For dates, lunch with the boss, formal events, whatever, at 16 you should know which fork is for what, where the napkin goes, when to start eating, appropriate conversation, etc.
Going to assume swimming/riding a bike is fair game at 6 or 7, but definitely by 16.
Don’t know if this is a “life skill”, but by 16 you should be somewhat health conscious- aware of the foods you eat, nutrition, exercise, etc. You don’t have to be in Olympic shape, but you should know what you’re consuming and try to moderate intake of junk food- important for going to college/moving out.
Financially aware- spending appropriately, working if possible.
I’d probably put basic child and pet care knowledge on there too, you should be capable of babysitting or petsitting.
Hm… that’s all I have right now, but this is interesting.
How to shake hands properly.
Proper table manners for different cultures and how to comport yourself at their tables.
From chopsticks usage and placement to which hand to eat when using your hands for ethnic dishes to knowing what to bring as a host gift.
How to travel alone.
What to do at the airport, what to do if your flight is cancelled, how to get yourself around a new city.
The same for trains.
Gracious behavior.
How to accept gifts, compliments and praise.
Courteous gentlemanly behaviors to opening doors, to assisting those who need it without embarrassing them.
Most of this is good stuff. In today’s world of Engine Computers though, I would cross off fixing anything on a car. How to give a rough diagnosis of the issue and call AAA seems more appropriate.
Most of this stuff should have been learned from simple exposure. Grocery shopping, traveling alone, online shopping, all of this should be known.
Here’s the big one though: When to put the frickin’ cell phone down. Playing on a cell phone in front of people is an easy way to make a terrible impression.
Oh and don’t text when you drive, especially not in the fast lane.
Communicating effectively when angry or stressed.
From discussing a grade discrepancy with a professor, to a police officer who wants to see his ID for suspicious behavior, to dealing with an irate driver who he has just been in a car accident with, to a love interest who is being difficult.