Should public schools include basic money management in their curriculum?

Question

Most kids who emerge from our inner city school systems have no knowledge of basic money management.
Shouldn't we be teaching these kids how to management a household budget. How to manage a checking account. How to manage their credit. How to save for the furure. How not to over extend their credit.
So many of these kids today leave high school completely unprepared for the pitfalls of the road ahead of them. They enter the workforce without any knowledge of how to manage the money they earn.
Many inner city kids come from low income families and don't get this knowledge at home. Managing money is a basic skilled required to lift oneself out of poverty. Isn't this a skill we should be teaching all children?

Answer 1

Asolutely Money Management should be part of the curriculum. as you said many of them leave school without any idea of how to manage money.

It could be taught by people in the financial industry

Answer 2

I didn't grow up in the inner city, but when I was going to school in a small town in Arkansas, we learned about personal finances in home economics and business classes. I think that such lessons should be mandatory, because like you've pointed out, there are a lot of kids who are "completely unprepared for the pitfalls of the road ahead of them".

By the way, I love the "Smiling Bob" commercials! I especially like the one where he is on a business trip to Japan.:)

Answer 3

Most kids have no concept of money management, Their parents, their governments or their school systems are not teaching them.... I asked my 18 year old daughter the other day: Why do you think that there are so many advertisements in the media for "consolidation loans"? When she didn't have an answer, I explained that it is because many Americans spend more than they earn, buying things that they really don't need, unless they actually have the money to pay for them.... Our home is the only one on the block that doesn't have a big screen T.V. in it, not because I couldn't afford the payments, but because I choose not to spend my hard-saved money on it.

Answer 4

It is sad to say but the educational system is not designed to promote education . It is there to provide the vast majority of children basic reading writing and math skills .
What they choose to read and how they aply those skills is not the goal of education .

The primary goal is to provide companies with a blank slate that can read write do math and is capable of learning what they want them to .

It is not about teaching success or entrepreneurial skills like how to file permit applications or license applications or to incorporate a business .

It explains the types of Business with no substance .

It explains making change for customers accurately but does not teach about contacting and negotiating with wholesalers or manufacturers . It mentions lines of credit and 90day debit accounts but does not place them in any relative manner so that students understand the big picture .

education is not about teaching kids any survival skills in the world .
The object of education is to prepare workers to meet the needs of business owners .
Becoming more educated then that requires self determination or some one to teach you the ropes .
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So most people do not look long term . They mention a plan for the future that talks about tomorrow next week next month the goals for the year and the five year plan .

They point out about compounded interest and investment but fail to instill discipline and instead teach that you should make yourself happy today .

This cause young adults to go into massive debt . .

Until education becomes a center for improving the working conditions and job opportunity for a community by preparing people to realize their independence we will continue to build a society with a 10% failure rate .

Answer 5

It was an elective while I was in school, have forgotten what they called it. Explained how to balance check book, make a budget, file tax returns, etc.

Children are much more likely to follow examples set by their parents.

Answer 6

Fortunately we hade a money maganement class we could choose as an elective at my high school, which I took. Yes kids need to be prepared for the real world

Answer 7

I don't know that I'd support mandating that schools have to offer it (that gets into the fact that it's the parents responsibility to teach such things and we baby parents too much as it is) but I think it is a good idea for schools to offer such a class of their own volition.

Answer 8

Absolutely! This used to be called economics. Macro and micro. In grade school we had investment portfolio experiments where we tracked our stocks and made our decisions based on research from the newspaper. We also had a semester long project in which we were each given different jobs and recieved "paychecks" every week. We could then choose where to live (how much was rent), to drive or not (car payment, insurance, gas, repairs), food, uitlities, clothing etc... It was really quite an eye-opener to see just how quickly even a "large " amount of money disappeared.

Answer 9

What are you talking about??
The school I went to had money managment!!
I'm sorry your teachers were slackers...

Answer 10

Kids don't know how to count change. Many can't balance a check book. Yes, I think that would be a great course. Don't pass don't graduate kind of course.

Answer 11

Problem is, NOBODY in the public school system knows how to manage money. They think it grows on taxtrees, and that it can be somehow put to good use by dropping it in black holes.

Seriously, it would be a good idea, but first they need to be taught how to add, subtract, and read.