Rough thoughts and musings, not to be taken too seriously.
Some subjects (computer science, engineering, political science) are often only taught starting at the university level. This isn’t to say that no pre-university education ever involves these, but they are generally at a much more watered down level (such as social studies or a class called western civilization compared to political science). I think that the standard approach for parents who want their keeps to be exposed to these areas is to do it yourself, rather than relying on the school system. Nudge your child toward these things outside of the formal education system. Weekend classes, summer camps, or simply having a habit at home where you read books on a particular topic together. I do think it would be better if pre-university education did a great job of exposing students to various subjects and giving them to opportunity to explore them more. Especially on subjects like rationality and decision-making.
You might want to look into the book Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids; part of it touches on how little our attempts to shape children actually matter. I’m not a parent yet, but this book gave me a good nudge to plan on more children than I was previously planning on.
Another thought: many subjects (such as computer science, engineering, a particular foreign language, roman history, political science) will be practically useless to many people, depending on what their interests are and what kind of a career they have. Would the world be a better place if everyone understood the basics of two dozen different fields? I think it would. But for many people that wouldn’t be of any real benefit.
Rough thoughts and musings, not to be taken too seriously.
Some subjects (computer science, engineering, political science) are often only taught starting at the university level. This isn’t to say that no pre-university education ever involves these, but they are generally at a much more watered down level (such as social studies or a class called western civilization compared to political science). I think that the standard approach for parents who want their keeps to be exposed to these areas is to do it yourself, rather than relying on the school system. Nudge your child toward these things outside of the formal education system. Weekend classes, summer camps, or simply having a habit at home where you read books on a particular topic together. I do think it would be better if pre-university education did a great job of exposing students to various subjects and giving them to opportunity to explore them more. Especially on subjects like rationality and decision-making.
You might want to look into the book Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids; part of it touches on how little our attempts to shape children actually matter. I’m not a parent yet, but this book gave me a good nudge to plan on more children than I was previously planning on.
Another thought: many subjects (such as computer science, engineering, a particular foreign language, roman history, political science) will be practically useless to many people, depending on what their interests are and what kind of a career they have. Would the world be a better place if everyone understood the basics of two dozen different fields? I think it would. But for many people that wouldn’t be of any real benefit.