Separate content and presentation

I’m reviewing the HTML/CSS lessons and somewhat surprised to find the challenges concerning the HTML tags such as strong, em, u, s, and hr being presented without discussion of separating content and presentation. Yes, these tags persist in HTML5 but should we use them to style text without regard to semantics? I’ve long considered these tags a relic of a bygone era when layouts were constructed with tables and blink was just awesome :wink:

That’s not really a discussion that makes sense to someone who hasn’t learned the basics of how websites work yet.

True, but does it make sense to present these tags? They’re kinda dirty…

I believe that em and strong are semantic as well as stylistic. Not sure about the others