Should law be required in school curriculum?

[trenton]

I find it harsh that the legal system can argue that ignorance of the law is not an excuse or defense while at the same time people are not taught the law, creating an unstable situation. I think there are many avoidable and preventable crimes if people were taught laws and common misconceptions and assumptions about what is legal.

This could be helpful for children who may be navigating physical or sexual abuse at home but don't know what resources are available to help them. Looking back at the situation I lived in, I would have behaved differently had I known some of my misguided beliefs about law.

Sometimes my father would commit crimes related to hang violence and drug deals, but he would threaten to disown me if I told anyone. I ended up swearing to secrecy not knowing that I was committing a felony by aiding in criminal behavior. Had I known I was legally obligated to report my father and his gang, then that would have been significant to my thought process when navigating a dysfunctional family.

I also read about the abuse of self defense. This is likely to happen in a case of domestic violence. This almost happened with my physically abusive stepfather, but I ultimately decided to run away instead. Sometimes self defense is used in response to assault, but it is then used as an excuse to cause maximum harm rather than escape. This is how self defense can become homicide. In the case of my stepfather he would steal my money, destroy the house, physically attack others, poop in the kitchen, and create an environment of constant fear. Because of this I had previously had thoughts of killing him, thus it would have been premeditated because in truth I was coming from hatred. I was then in a situation where I was expecting him to attack me, but I was prepared to respond with excessive force, potentially resulting in homicide. This is when I decided to run away from home instead. My thought process would have been different had I been taught the law. The implication is that teaching people law could prevent murder and homicidal ideation such as in my case. I wish people knew how to properly manage domestic violence rather than being stuck in ignorance.

What do you think? Should law be taught in school to prevent crimes from being committed out of ignorance? I think it makes sense if citizens are held to a harsh standard of ignorance not being an excuse while not being taught any of this, thus being kept ignorant.

[ricachica]

I agree a format should be covered somehow, interested to see what others say. I think cops should also be required to have studied those things as well before joining.

I think the similarly but of psychology/group therapy classes. I had many difficulties with my parents growing up too but in other ways of course. Having a psychological/mental health class would have helped navigate all of that absolutely.

Argument for psychology, we all have brains, but have no basic conceptions of how they work. It’s like driving a car without an owner’s manual. We’re all misusing our most valuable organ. Argument for group therapy classes is it teaches interpersonal communication and diving deep into others, helping see through your biases and perceptions of others you don’t know well yet, which are surprisingly wrong a lot of the time.

I took a group therapy class and led the groups as well afterwards as an internship, it absolutely changed the trajectory of my mental health and personal growth. Would not be the same without it.

[trenton]

@ricachica I agree with psychology being taught as well. There are so many lives that could be saved..

for example, if I learned healthy ways to cope with anger, then I wouldn't have held onto all the anger toward my stepfather, believing it would empower me and lead to change. This fueled my homicidal thoughts further.

Likewise, I often had suicidal thoughts and severe depression. My mind was constant mental torture and I couldn't make it stop. I think preventing children from killing themselves with the help of practical psychology should be considered far more important.

There's a lot of things that need to be taught, but society doesn't want to teach them because of the expectation to focus on good grades as if it leads to success rather than dead end jobs and wage slavery. You could therefore make a case for financial management and basic economics.

In reality it looks like there are so many important things to learn that we must become life long learners on a wide range of subjects. Self education must be included because school can't cover everything.

[Hojo]

Its impossible to get kids to listen or the way its taught is so boring the kids won't listen. Its the most boring topic to most children.

I remeber being in school civics class and I didn't listen to a single word.

[Leo Gura]

The problem is that kids only have so much time to learn. So it's about prioritizing the most important domains. Ideally law would be taught, but in practice it's not a high priority domain. I would rather have kids learn about psychology, personal development, epistemology, health, geography, government, relationships, business, marketing, dating.

Edited December 19, 2024 by Leo Gura

[Basman]

A neat compromise if law can't be taught in school is free resources/counceling for navigating legal matters, maybe like some AI thing.

Edited December 20, 2024 by Basman

[trenton]

@Leo Gura when you say you want kids to learn about relationships, does it include what to do if your parents are abusive drug addicts or what to do if you end up being financially dependent on an abuser? If so that could also prevent murder because being stuck in bad relationships might lead to these kinds of thoughts. I hope teaching relationships prevents some of these problems because my fear and avoidance of relationships and dating stems from fear of being stuck in a horrible situation.

[Leo Gura]

On 12/20/2024 at 8:03 AM, trenton said:

when you say you want kids to learn about relationships, does it include what to do if your parents are abusive drug addicts or what to do if you end up being financially dependent on an abuser?

Well, that's another matter, but of course such topics are important.

[trenton]

@Leo Gura I see what you mean by keeping these discussions separate. Unfortunately, my fear and avoidance of relationships stems from my attempts to escape deep pain and suffering caused by being trapped in abusive situations. My suicidal ideation and attempts were accompanied by me thinking about the hopelessness of being stuck with my family. This is actually a common trauma response to abusive relationships. I'd rather die then end up in a situation like my girlfriend committing suicide to leave me a single father with a child who hates me and blames me for her death and therefore develops severe behavioral problems leading to criminal activity like mass shootings.

My attitude toward relationships needs to come from a place of reduced fear and avoidance. They prevent me from giving and accepting love. I remember I told you I was deeply wrong in terms of my attitude and approach to relationships in general. My family has shaped this attitude in a deeply negative way while on the surface pushing love out of social conditioning. I'll consider dating like my therapists recommended next year after I meet my current goals.

Where did you learn about relationships and what is your general attitude? Will you make videos on building healthy relationships in the future?