Financial Literacy in Schools
By Kadijah Olanipekun
Being financially educated can be a very beneficial skill that will help you throughout your life. Knowing how to budget, how to spend a paycheck and how to pay taxes are a few of the many things that you will eventually need to master. But why are these skills rarely taught in schools, but are instead left for us to figure out by trial and error? A common debate, especially in the American education system, is if financial literacy should be mandatory in our schools, in a manner to prepare students for the real world.
The average school schedule for a student consists of the four core subjects, and usually a few extracurricular classes that might cover topics such as the arts or humanities. According to a report by CNBC, “while 27 states offer personal finance courses in high school, only 23 states mandate that students must take one to graduate.” For some reason, our education system seems to disregard the importance of teaching financial education while students are still young, although it is very possible that this is one of the most essential classes that one could take, especially for those who are close to the age of graduation. Those in either 11th or 12th grade for example, would benefit tremendously from learning about loans and the use of credit, as this is some of the basic knowledge that you will need to know once you reach adulthood.
So how does early exposure to the principles of money management affect our lives in the long run? Well as society progresses, the economy becomes more complex and more advanced, leaving many young adults struggling to figure out how to get by. In fact, a study done by ‘Pew Research Center’ stated that “About seven-in-ten Americans think young adults today have a harder time than their parents’ generation when it comes to saving for the future (72%), paying for college (71%) and buying a home (70%)”. . . “These findings come at a time when younger Americans are more likely than previous generations to have taken on student debt with tuition costs steadily rising, and to face an affordable housing crisis as rent and housing prices have grown markedly faster than incomes in the last decade.”
It just shows that the later we start educating ourselves in this particular field, it is more likely that our up and coming generation will continue to face damaging financial struggles such as unemployment or crippling debt.
At the end of the day, there is action that we can take as students to help make a change in how financial literacy is taught in schools. We can start by asking our principal or staff members if there is any chance we can incorporate it into our classes or our extracurriculars. And for those who are really interested in educating themselves more, we can make the first move by using online resources, books and asking adults that might be able to help.