'Should Financial Education Be Taught In Schools?' poll discussion

JDPower

Suzy_M wrote: »

C. On the basis that even so called 'well-educated' children are leaving school semi-literate and semi-numerate. Schools should concentrate on the basic foundations of education first and foremost.

And how exactly do you think this takes away from that? They are already taught PSHE, this is just being added into that, it's not like it's replacing maths or English lessons (if anything it may slightly help their maths)

keet83

kids should be allowed to be more creative then sticking them in a class room and telling them to learn english and numeracy. dont take away their childhood, if they want let them do artistic subjects such as painting, drawing, dancing, acting, drama etc. stop telling them what they should do in their childhood years and let them enjoy it. ken robinson makes a brilliant point in this video

http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

stevemcol

When I see that a number of people, albeit a small number, voted 'c', it reminds me that there are nutters out there whose kids are going to need a little extra help at school to give them a fighting chance in life.

egyptiangirl

PasturesNew wrote: »

I'd ask how many people could answer this question in fluent French. As everybody's taught French at school, several lessons a week, for at least three years before they can give it up, you'd have thought everybody in the UK was fluent in French. We're not..... so I fail to see what effect a few financial lessons would have.

It'd just be another pile of money down the drain and schools having to fit something else in.

Sorry but everybody is NOT taught French in school! It is not a compulsory subject. I have no idea where you got this from!

I find this thread and the poll slightly amusing and slightly ignorant. Many schools already teach this and it shows complete and utter lack of knowledge about education and the curriculum that is offered to students.

In response to a couple of comments, if we were to leave 'education' in particular areas to parents, then we would have many children who don't know what contraception is, what drugs do to the body and don't understand what a healthy meal is. PLease don't assume that all parents know how to do any of these let alone deal with their finances enough to home educate.

Of course, we must remember, even if it is taught at schools it doesn't mean the country won't ever be in a recession again. Some people, no matter what they're told, are tempted and lured by money, sex and drugs. We can do our best to help our students make informed choices.

JDPower

egyptiangirl wrote: »

In response to a couple of comments, if we were to leave 'education' in particular areas to parents, then we would have many children who don't know what contraception is, what drugs do to the body and don't understand what a healthy meal is. PLease don't assume that all parents know how to do any of these let alone deal with their finances enough to home educate.

Of course, we must remember, even if it is taught at schools it doesn't mean the country won't ever be in a recession again. Some people, no matter what they're told, are tempted and lured by money, sex and drugs. We can do our best to help our students make informed choices.

Well said that girl, couldn't have worded it better myself :money:

alunharford

stevemcol wrote: »

When I see that a number of people, albeit a small number, voted 'c', it reminds me that there are nutters out there whose kids are going to need a little extra help at school to give them a fighting chance in life.

I voted 'c' because it's the closest answer to "schools shouldn't have to educate children about complex financial arrangements". If so many people in society get themselves into debt because they don't understand debt then we need to overhaul the financial regulatory system.

An good example would be to require firms advertising credit to make absolutely clear that the money will have to be paid back with interest. TV adverts focus on the "this customer now has a new car" stuff and ignore or gloss over the requirement to pay the money back.

I'd much rather the government dealt with the core problem instead of diverting time and resources from other subject areas to teach this stuff.

Margaret54

Hi I voted A and feel very strongly about this matter, and yes when I was at school we too had to do French which I did not like as I could never see at the time what the point was. I do however wish with all my heart that I had been taught about finances, as I learned the hard way. This is a wonderful site and I am learning so much from it, and there is so much great advice on it. Thank you so very much Martin.
Money was tight while growing up in our family and later on while I struggled to bring my children up alone , but now they are all adults they have said they still write down on paper what they have coming in each week/month and what needs to go out, so that is good.
We seem to be bombarded with buy now pay later sofa adds on t.v and I could scream. I know some people who just don,t understand finance at all, and I think schools ought to teach this and also parents need to explain and teach their children as it is a life lesson. I remember only to well about getting into financial trouble a long time ago and I never understood about APR OR or anything like that, and I would hate to go back to then, so am an awful lot wiser now, and it really needs to be taught at a young age IMO

general_dogsbody

egyptiangirl wrote: »

Sorry but everybody is NOT taught French in school! It is not a compulsory subject. I have no idea where you got this from!

True, but modern foreign languages is on the national curriculum, and the vast majority of schools choose French as at least one of these languages. I think that it is fair to say that the majority of English schoolchildren have some exposure to French.

In response to a couple of comments, if we were to leave 'education' in particular areas to parents, then we would have many children who don't know what contraception is, what drugs do to the body and don't understand what a healthy meal is. PLease don't assume that all parents know how to do any of these let alone deal with their finances enough to home educate.

Part of the problem IMO is that because schools teach a lot of this subject matter, many parents no longer feel obliged to be involved in the process and much of what the schools teach is either sadly lacking in detail, or in the case of sex education, often devoid of an emotional context, and my fear for financial education would be that it would either be inadequate in depth and scope, or outsourced to "finanicial advisors" who might give it a bias towards certain financial institutions.

Prinzessilein

I taught Maths in schools and Numeracy on Government courses for many years until ill-health pulled me away from work.

I see no point in teaching finance in schools. Too many youngsters are leaving school unable to read write and do basic arithmetic. How are they supposed to understand APR if they can't add up?

Who will teach this? Financial Advisors employed by banks and financial institutions and who have their own agenda? Or teachers who already have so much paperwork to complete that they can't teach their own subject let alone take on something new.

Finally, we need to educate our children not to be so materialistic. Youngsters have a mobile phone that works well. They can make phonecalls, text theor mates, and even take photos on it. But they demand the 'new' phone which is in a different colour, or weighs 1/4 of a gram less....and they 'have' to have this new phone.....and they also 'need' that new game for their latest console....and it nis vital that they have this film on BlueRay even though the film was on TV last week and they also have the special edition DVD....and ..and....and!!!!
NO! what ever happened to getting this sort of thing for birthdays/Christmas, or saving up for it, or....God forbid! doing without!

hermum

I would definitely have voted A, everyone needs to know how to budget & the long term implications of the have now pay later culture. It would be great if parents were also involved in teaching their kids, however as a lot of parents don't have the necessary skills themselves, they have been passing on their own bad habits.
I also firmly believe that all life skills should be taught. Meal planning & cooking, in the way it was taught in the 70's.
Sewing, woodwork, basic car & home maintenance. All things that most people should know.