Should Emotional Intelligence Be Taught In Schools

Because school-aged children are at such a crucial age, it is important to know what exactly should be taught to them during school hours. There are so many important aspects to life that each student should be not only aware of, but also very familiar with by the time they leave elementary school. So which of these important aspects should be part of the children’s curriculum? Unfortunately, there isn’t enough time in a school day to teach a child everything he or she needs to know in order to become an extremely well-rounded adult. Teachers and the state are forced to pick only a few, out of thousands of life lessons, that should be taught during school; but did they make the right decision? There are several extremely debatable subjects
In fact, a lot of people aren’t even aware of what emotional intelligence is. Emotional intelligence is the skills that express, assess, evaluate, and regulate a person’s emotions. This would fit into the curriculum by teaching the children how to manage their emotions properly. According to Richard Davidson, the reason emotional intelligence should be part of every child’s curriculum is because it teaches students skills like empathy, self-awareness, and how to manage distressing emotions; by doing this, you are also making the students better learners. Although these are skills that can technically just be taught at home by any parent or guardian, it is important to have it part of the school’s curriculum because you know what they say, “practice makes perfect.” If emotional intelligence was a course in schools’, the children would work with skills involving emotions every day. Davidson says that courses in social and emotional learning repeat experiences which shape the brain. The more the child practices self-discipline, empathy, and cooperation, the stronger the underlying circuits become for these essential life