Are we turning out graduates who have truly learned all they should?
Credit: Mott Community College | ©Mott Community College
As young adults graduate high school, they will have learned many things: world history, English literature, Geography, etc.
While these are important enough, there are some life skills that should be taught at this time in their lives as well. After all, many will leave home for the first time in their lives. They will be thrust into the world to fend for themselves without a lot of the skills that spell later success or failure.
Following are three "life" classes I think should be taught in high school, but aren't.
1. Credit: Many young adults receive their first credit card on college campuses, because credit card companies prey on them. And yes, I meant prey.
I mean, think about it, what business model says to go out and give a young, financially inexperienced, more-than-likely jobless, person a line of credit. And, for many of these cards, you don't have to provide anything other than a name, address and social security number.
Bam, here's $500, $1,000 or $1,500+ to spend "responsibly."
According to the article, Credit cards teaching students a costly lesson on Bankrate.com, "the average undergraduate has $2,200 in credit card debt. . . . That figure jumps to $5,800 for graduate students."
So, why do the credit card companies do it? Because they know that many times, parents are going to bail the kids out. Or, the students will make minimum payments - thereby earning them millions in interest - over the course of years.
Eg, according to the same article, "Sophia Jackson, a personal finance counselor for Consumer Credit Counseling Service in Durham, N.C., says one of her student clients made an $82 credit card payment on an overdue bill, only to discover that a mere 79 cents of the payment applied to the card's principal. The rest was eaten up by late fees and over-the-limit fees."
Ms. Jackson pointed out thatyou could pay on your balance for years and it would continue to go up."
Think there is a worthwhile lesson here?
2. Choosing a Career: Young adults should be taught how to choose a career before they graduate high school. As many enter college, they have no idea what they want to do for the rest of their lives.
While these are important enough, there are some life skills that should be taught at this time in their lives as well. After all, many will leave home for the first time in their lives. They will be thrust into the world to fend for themselves without a lot of the skills that spell later success or failure.
Following are three "life" classes I think should be taught in high school, but aren't.
1. Credit: Many young adults receive their first credit card on college campuses, because credit card companies prey on them. And yes, I meant prey.
I mean, think about it, what business model says to go out and give a young, financially inexperienced, more-than-likely jobless, person a line of credit. And, for many of these cards, you don't have to provide anything other than a name, address and social security number.
Bam, here's $500, $1,000 or $1,500+ to spend "responsibly."
According to the article, Credit cards teaching students a costly lesson on Bankrate.com, "the average undergraduate has $2,200 in credit card debt. . . . That figure jumps to $5,800 for graduate students."
So, why do the credit card companies do it? Because they know that many times, parents are going to bail the kids out. Or, the students will make minimum payments - thereby earning them millions in interest - over the course of years.
Eg, according to the same article, "Sophia Jackson, a personal finance counselor for Consumer Credit Counseling Service in Durham, N.C., says one of her student clients made an $82 credit card payment on an overdue bill, only to discover that a mere 79 cents of the payment applied to the card's principal. The rest was eaten up by late fees and over-the-limit fees."
Ms. Jackson pointed out thatyou could pay on your balance for years and it would continue to go up."
Think there is a worthwhile lesson here?
2. Choosing a Career: Young adults should be taught how to choose a career before they graduate high school. As many enter college, they have no idea what they want to do for the rest of their lives.
Comments
Excellent! When I was in hs a teacher told us about a national poll showing that a huge % of adults were dissatisfied with their jobs. That always stuck with me.
AJ
(Guest)
(Guest)
04/23/2007
Critical Media Studies as well, so people don't believe everything the television tells them and have dreams that go beyond "consume consume consume".
You are right on track. I have seen a few schools offering a college skills course, but it amazes me that they are usually just study skills courses. I'm glad you started your article with credit. So many young people don't understand what they are getting themselves into.
Great article! I agree with your point-of-view. As a former high school history teacher, I have noticed that students barely had knowledge of life-survival skills. A majority had no idea of what they wanted to do once they graduated. A lot has to do with the lack of school counselors and career assistance in schools. This is why I left the school system to begin my own business in helping young people like myself with career coaching and assistance. School counselors are stretched thin with the amount of students in schools and cannot maintain a good student-counselor relationship, so young people get "burn by fire" when it comes to the working world. Keep up the good work, excellent article!
Jerk
(Guest)
(Guest)
04/12/2007
Clearly, grammar should also be taught in high school.
I was homeschooled and my mom made sure all of this and more was taught before I was allowed to graduate....have to say it all served me well in comparison to my freshman friends. Made a tidy sum around tax season when word got around that I knew how to file :) Great article
This is just what we do in my high school special education classes. Great article and ideas...Thanks !
Jamie what an excellent way to teach finances. That and the one about having a baby should be national programs. These are the REAL issues that determine what your life will be like in 15, 20, and 25 years. It baffles me that high schools don't teach these basic life skills.
I hate to say this, but where I live and come from, high school is a joke. It is just a big daycare center. Classes that should be taught are not taught, most young people do not want to be in high school and they would rather get into a trade and start working than waste their time with classes that they think are useless to them. School is not for everyone. Some people are really not made for school.
Digg this one so I can! This is a great idea, and I agree wholeheartedly. I'd add logic as well. One of the best classes I ever saw taught was considered a low-track sort of class -- ie, the collegebound kids avoided it -- but it was brilliant. Kids got a play money bank account and drew cards on what would happen in their lives after graduation. Cards went from winning the lottery to giving birth to twins as an unwed parent. Then they had to live that life for the rest of the year while learning about credit, jobhunting, etc. I think that belongs in every school.
Comments 1 - 10 (of 10)
|
|