What are some random things that should be carefully taught to school kids which aren't?

Economics. Economics. Economics.

I know some schools teach a BIT of economics as electives, but a basic grounding in economics should be part of the civics curriculum required for a high school diploma.

In the current day and age, some degree of computer programming/literacy should also be standard. You can’t graduate without spreadsheet skills or basic programming skills. Doesn’t have to be elaborate…but it can’t be zero and it has to be more than most kids are getting.

Critical thinking skills and how to determine true versus fake information.

Money management.

Civics – it used to be taught but I’m not sure it is any more.

Money management is a good idea. I didn’t know how to balance a checkbook when I graduated. How to do simple tax returns.
How to do a budget and to follow it.
Just life skills.

Interpersonal skills. Like dating, and breaking up.

A random thing that should be taught: the relation between analog experiences and how they integrate the mind, body, and spirit

I went to school back in the 50s and early 60s so my experiences are a bit out of date. I find it interesting that every class I took I have used to some degree throughout my life (possible exception of French). Many of those classes are no longer offered, metal shop, home ec, wood shop, auto shop, and so on. These types of classes are life lessons that can be useful for every day living but have been deleted from most school curriculums. I would like to see them come back.

Personal Finance. It is obvious that the vast majority of people need to learn how to financially survive.

Psychology. Especially the understanding of abnormal Psych. Learning the differences between what is normal and what is abnormal and how to deal with human psychological interactions.

Critical thinking. I don’t think it’s taught in any systematic way now.

I’m not sure what is required reading anymore but even 30 years ago when I was in high school I had to seek out books like Brave new world on my own. More reading that challenges institutional trust and teaches us how fragile society can be is needed to maintain the free society we live in.

Economics, people are terrible with money and understanding of money. Terrible.

Last but not least, life skills like shop. The complete ineptitude the general population has with the most basic things around the house never ceases to amaze me.

I think we should be taught about our bodies much more than we are. There are many things we go through that can be very difficult to understand on our own and it can disrupt your health and mind needlessly.

Economics

Critical thinking

Logic

Balance a checkbook (Learned that in study hall sixty years ago by the business / typing teacher))

I agree with @Jaxk. I took Home Economics and still sew and make clothes today. I wish it had been more acceptable for boys to take it so they’d learn basics of cooking and at least mending clothes. I would have liked to take shop/woodworking and car maintenance.

I think an awareness of feelings is something that should be touched on in every course. Emotions come up all day long and the vast majority of kids have no clue what they’re feeling or how to deal with it. Kindness sort of goes hand-in-hand with it – if a child understands how to handle its anger, it would be less likely to bully or make fun of another child. Not all adults know how to identify or handle their emotions, so why not teach kids in school if they can’t get it at home. It’s a huge part of learning to be good person.

Also, money management.

@smudges learned cooking in my home pies, cakes, breads, roasts (pork, poultry and beef0 chili, stews, pot roast and spaghetti sauce from scratch, by the time I was ten.
Oh fried chicken livers for pate on Ritz crackers, to watch football games with my dad, he did the cooking.

@smudges Home ec was required for everyone when I went. I can mend clothes better than most as a direct result. They taught us that in the boy scouts as well.

@Tropical_Willie & @Blackwater_Park Glad to know that from both of you! Great skills to have!

Among the academic things people should know are Euclid’s proof that there are infinitely many primes, and the proof by one of the Pythagoreans that the square root of two cannot be expressed as the ratio of two whole numbers. These two proofs are short and simple and change the way we look at the world, even if they have no practical application. In a similar vein, everyone should be taught Cantor’s method for comparing infinite sets and his proof that the set of rational numbers is the same size as the set of whole numbers, but the set of real numbers is larger than the set of rationals.