Basic Life Skills And Home Economics Classes Should Be Required

📌Category: Education, Learning, Life, Lifestyle
📌Words: 1032
📌Pages: 4
📌Published: 11 March 2021

Knowing how to cook, clean, sew, balance a checkbook, and file taxes are basic life skills that everyone needs to know. Not everyone learns them at home, however, which is why these skills should be taught in high school. An informal discussion with anyone over the age of 40, will reveal that a Home Economics class taken in high school, still shows its value today. As a current high school student, who had not learned any of these skills in school, soon realized that students nowadays are missing a huge chunk of important life skills that high schools should be teaching.  

Learning how to manage money and make important life decisions are a huge part of being ready for life after high school, whether college or independent living, and  “Home economic classes would help teens develop skills in family financing, nutrition, cooking and other various skills for life” (Daily Gazette, Bryant). Learning how to cook, sew, and budget are skills that everyone should know and will help them be successful in life. Knowing how to cook can help eliminate the costs of living because cooking meals is cheaper than buying ready to eat meals or fast food meals, not to mention healthier as well. Learning how to budget will help college students as well as students who decide to go into the workforce out of highschool, because knowing how to effectively manage money can be a life saver. Knowing how to manage and budget money can eliminate the stress of  going into debt and not having enough money to live comfortably. For college students knowing how to manage money effectively can mean not graduating college as many colleges are not cheap in most cases. And for students who enter the workforce right away and decide to start a family, knowing how much spending money that they will have after taxes and living costs will help them make smart educated choices as to what they put their money into. Knowing how to properly manage finances can help students make smart, educated decisions which can help eliminate possible debt in the future. According to Forbes.com,“Additional research and polling reveal that the specter of student loan debt nearly extinguishes the joy we associate with graduating from college in the first place” (www.forbes.com). If  Students were taught how to budget and manage debt, college could be seen as an extraordinary learning experience, opposed to an education that will only bring them debt.

Students learning how to cook, sew and manage money not only gets them college ready, but workforce ready. Knowing how to sew buttons back on a coat or sew a patch on a ripped pair of jeans are basic life skills that can save time and money which can be very important to college students and new workforce workers. Creating well rounded students who are not only “Book Smart”, but “Street smart”. Students should know how to write an essay as well as know how to unclog a sink. There needs to be a balance between the two. Students need to be taught that there are other options than a 4 year school that will most often put them largely in debt.  “Among those who borrow, the average debt at graduation is $25,921 —”(https://www.aplu.org/). With the average student loan debt at almost $26,000, learning how to properly manage debt and money couldn't be any more important. One thing that today's students have the most problems with is managing money properly. A home economics class would teach students how to manage money effectively and efficiently to help manage overwhelming debt. Knowing how to manage finances can help students when they decide to buy a house or a car, so they know what they can afford and find the best deal using price comparison and bargaining. 

Students need to be taught skills that not only make them smart, but decent human beings. Learning how to sew, cook, clean, and properly manage finances, will build an appreciation for working class citizens and will build character. “In general, there is plenty to be learned in such classes. The classes can include cooking, time management, budgeting, and even shopping. Through these classes, the students can learn how to use their strengths better and resolve their weaknesses and get better outcomes from their hard work”(https://trendings.net). Knowing how to budget and time manage appropriately will get students ready for college and well as everyday life. Learning how to time manage effectively will not only help them with students but will also help them in their chosen job field in life. Showing up on time to events shows people that they are responsible,which can lead to promotions and respect. Effective budgeting is a very hard skill to master, but it is a very vital skill to have, in order to succeed in life. This may bring not only appreciation, but respect for those who have mastered budgeting, cooking, and time management skills. 

Effective budgeting can teach students how to prioritize what is truly important. However,  many people may see things from a financial standpoint which forms a counter argument that the schools don’t have the funding for the additional classes.“Home economics was removed from schools because it was seen as just “cooking and sewing,” which some thought could be learned at home. With the emphasis on advanced academics and high test scores, it was not seen as worthy of the time in a curriculum”(Gail Bradford, www.quora.com). With the shortage of teachers it became apparent that some sacrifices were going to be made. With the abundance of ready to eat meals, cooking has become a thing of the past. However, if teachers were paid a respectable amount that shows the value and importance of their work, there might be more people looking into the job field. Cutting back on the large amount of funding that goes into athletics could counteract the additional costs for the added class. Many people may believe that important life skills should be taught at home, but many students do not receive these skills at home or at all, which is why the home economics classes need to be brought back into public schools as a required class. 

The importance of basic life skills is the same as core classes like math, science, reading and writing. The basic life skills will not only get students college ready, but life ready. Knowing how to cook and sew will make students more self-reliant, and provide them with a wide range of skills. These skills will not only make them smart, but decent human beings, capable of contributing to society in a positive way, which should be the top priority in schools. 
 

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