First, let me say that this is why I say that when beginners play beginners, they should play by area scoring, such as the AGA rules use. Area scoring counts both live stones and territory. Under area rules there is no penalty for capturing dead stones. It is not always obvious if stones are dead, so how can beginners agree about life and death at the end of the game?
Second, play with your friends, of course.
But if you want to advance play with SDKs or dan players. There is no point in picking up bad habits. Besides, you can learn some things from them. Third, here are some variations. Learn the snapback.
Fourth, how can I make my claim that
is dead? At that point White has 27 more points in which to try to live. How can I read that widely and deeply? The number of variations is immense. Well, I didn't read at all. A little knowledge goes a long way. This diagram shows the minimum number of stones to make an independently living group. It takes 6 stones in the corner, 8 stones on the edge, and 10 stones in the center.
After
Black is solidly alive. Even assuming that Black has no capture on the top side, Black has only one weak spot, the cut in the top left corner. Assuming that White threatens the cut and Black replies, White has only two of the stones required for life. Does that mean that Black can wait until White has played 5 stones before responding? No, because Black may have to make plays outside of the region that White uses to make life. In this case it seems like Black can only pass twice. Now, even armed with the 6-8-10 knowledge, I would not expect a rank beginner to see that Black does not have to reply to
. But later on, after 
for instance, it should be obvious that there is no way that any of the White stones inside the Black compound can live. There is just not enough room.