Why don't we teach personal finance in school?

[tayana]

I think part of the reason schools don't teach personal finance is because they assume it's something parents are going to teach. I actually think the basics of personal finance should be taught in elementary school, not high school.

When I was in high school, we did have home ec classes, but very few people took them, and those that did, only did so for an easy grade. My parents taught me nothing about money, or rather, they taught me that there was never enough of it and everything cost too much. I got into problems with credit cards, and I'm just now starting to get myself together financially.

I definitely think courses in finance would be a great advantage to people of all ages, unfortunately, I think a lot of schools are far more concerned with test scores than with teaching valuable life lessons.

[will1363]

Originally Posted by Joanne

My children are becoming very good at bargain and comparison shopping by shopping with me. They know how to use my debit card and usually swipe it and enter my PIN number when we shop. They spend their own money and do their own transactions with the cashier (with me near them in case they need help). Same in the bank...they talk to the teller, fill out their slips and balance their own account. They also are free to spend their money on whatever they choose.

We openly discuss our finances, assets and budget with our kids and they have a voice in how our money is spent. They will definitely be better prepared to handle their finances than I was. I'm sure they'll make some bad choices but hopefully, they'll learn from them and move foreward.

Joann sets an amirable example. People won't learn finances until they have to, and kids won't understand personal finances in the classroom unless it is taught in a very creative manner (playing money games) or unless they have learned it at home.

[Myscha Theriault]

I have been crabbing about this with my fellow educators for YEARS. I'm totally in agreement that personal finance should be taught in schools. And I think home economics should be exactly that . . . economically oriented. Checkbook balancing, how interest rates can work for and against you, how to power shop effectively for stocking your home. These are all items that many people get out of school not knowing how to do . . .like the laundry issue someone else raised.

Personally, I think a certain number of things could be easily streamlined into the math curriculum. But that's another soap box. Great thread!

[Tennessee Riddle]

Go JoAnne! Fellow homeschool mom here. My 10 year old can bake bread, compares prices on the internet, and is starting to save some money so she can travel in her early twenties.

My grandmother taught home-ec in the school system for years, years ago. It's not even offered at her school anymore.

[Joanne]

Originally Posted by will1363

Joann sets an amirable example. People won't learn finances until they have to, and kids won't understand personal finances in the classroom unless it is taught in a very creative manner (playing money games) or unless they have learned it at home.

Thank you! I appreciate that. You hit it right on...unless something is actually part of someone's life or benefits their life in some way, they won't want to learn it.

[Joanne]

Originally Posted by Tennessee Riddle

Go JoAnne! Fellow homeschool mom here. My 10 year old can bake bread, compares prices on the internet, and is starting to save some money so she can travel in her early twenties.

*waves to a fellow homeschoolin' mama*

Tell your daughter she can come to my house and bake bread anytime she wants.

My blog: An Unschooling Life

[courtw]

It's disappointing that high schools don't prepare students to live as financially responsible adults. When working class students whose parents may live paycheck to paycheck head off to college (or not) they often have no clue how to start off on the right foot. I work with college students now and it's shocking how many have an aversion to student loans and are then forced into credit card borrowing, leaving them much worse off in the end. My high school taught no personal finance, and there was no home economics to fill in the gaps either. I think students can get it together on their own, but it would certainly make things easier if everyone at least got their first job with some basic knowledge.

[12strength]

I have repeatedly asked myself and others this very question. I'm glad you brought it up. I don't know the answers but I do know that some high schools do offer a "Life Skills" class (probably already mentioned somewhere) that teaches such practical and important things like balancing checkbooks etc. Regrettably, my high school offered this and I didn't even know about it until my friend told me he had taken it (but I had already missed my opportunity).

I would argue that high school is definitely the time to introduce basic personal finance knowledge/skills. Some people don't get much of an education within their homes so it would help to have some proper reinforcement. In hindsight, I wish I had learned some of those things sooner. It would've worked well for me after my freshmen year, when I was more acclimated. Perhaps if some of our parents got some basic education on that, they would've been able to better teach and exemplify healthy personal finance habits and practices to their growing children. Of course, there is always the very human process that dictates a process of "living" and "learning" and I think that's unavoidable. However, people don't have to fall as hard if they had known or were informed better perhaps.

Great thread.

[doubled]

I totally agree with that, I even went to college to study finance all they thought me was formulas, not about personal finance I hope they had a class about what matters in life.

[kymom22]

Originally Posted by Joanne

My children are becoming very good at bargain and comparison shopping by shopping with me. They know how to use my debit card and usually swipe it and enter my PIN number when we shop. They spend their own money and do their own transactions with the cashier (with me near them in case they need help). Same in the bank...they talk to the teller, fill out their slips and balance their own account. They also are free to spend their money on whatever they choose.

We openly discuss our finances, assets and budget with our kids and they have a voice in how our money is spent. They will definitely be better prepared to handle their finances than I was. I'm sure they'll make some bad choices but hopefully, they'll learn from them and move foreward.

That's great Joanne! I think personal finance should be taught as early as elementary school--if they learn to handle the small amounts (allowance), they will learn to handle larger amounts (first job). Why wait until high school when kids are already set in their ways? Consumerism gets its claws on them pretty early, so they should learn about personal finance early, too. They have a great program in 4-H here that takes 4th and 5th graders and gives them a mock budget and they have certain categories that they have to shop. For instance, in transportation, they have the option of a bike, skateboard, roller blades, etc. They have to learn to make choices to stretch their "money" until the next pay period. I have worked as a "counselor" for this program in the past. The kids come to me thinking I'm going to give them more money, but in fact, I help them see where they can make different choices within their budget.