Many people would agree that kids in school now could do with more challenging content on several fronts, like history, math, world affairs, and so on. But is there anything that you’ve learned since leaving school, and felt shocked that you hadn’t learned of it earlier?
For me, I think using a financial calculator is the single most useful thing any kid could learn as an addition to the current curriculum. I’m talking about the calculators that have keys for present value and future value of money. I don’t think many adults know how to use one either. Tell me this–if you want to buy a $10,000 car, put $2000 down, and then want to pay off the loan at 8% interest over the next 24 months, how much will your monthly payment be? Until a few months ago, I would have had no idea how to answer this question, and I’m shocked that I’ve gotten this far in life without this kind of knowledge.
What vital knowledge do you think is being left out of schools? And why do you think it’s such an outrage that it isn’t?
Tell you what–so this isn’t one of those IMHO one-post-and–disappear threads . . . let’s settle on three and only three topics that must be added to the knowledge held by a typical high school graduate. If we come up with more than three here, we have to work out the opportunity cost of one vs. another, and throw all but three out.
I’ll submit just one: knowing how to use a financial calculator should be absolutely mandatory for anyone beyond the age of 18.
I’m a little unfamiliar with loans, so does the 8% go down as you pay it off, or stay at the initial value? Working out the former would be a little tougher.
How about how to have a decent, healthy relationship to another human being? And I’m not just talking romantic relationships. High-school has got to be one of the most messed up environments that exists, as far as interpersonal relationships go.
All I learned about dealing with people in school was who to make fun of and who to avoid. Since we’re forced to spend so much of our lives there, shouldn’t we learn how to live?
How a credit history works. That a loan officer looks at more than on time payments, but also additional lines of credit, inquiries, etc.
Also, it would be nice if they have a role playing game where the students are allowed to go nuts with a credit card during their college years and then see how many rounds afterwards it takes to pay the damned thing off.
Too bad they ran Jocelyn Elders out on a rail for suggesting such a thing.
I think this would have been another subject I could have excelled at. I suspect that by the time I hit jr high, I was masturbating at the college level; could have qualified for a scholarship of some type, perhaps.
Of course I can work it out on paper, and take at least a couple of minutes doing so. I’m talking about the use of a financial calculator, and more generally the time value of money, which I know they didn’t cover in our school. At the sixth grade level, most kids are still working out the basic concepts in algebra, I think; I can see time value of money problems waiting until eighth or ninth grade.
To better illustate what I’m talking about, I’ll describe what I do to work out the above question: on my financial calculator, I enter 24 into “N”, 8/12 into “%i”, 2000 into “PV”, and 10,000 into “FV”; then, I press the “compute” button and then “PMT” If the problem were changed around so that I entered “PMT” at the outset but not “%i”, I could compute the implied interest rate; or if I knew PMT but not PV, I could compute the required down payment; or, if I knew everything else but “N”, I could compute how long it would take to pay off the loan. Any of these calculations would take just a couple of seconds. Do they teach this in high school now?
No, they don’t teach this at high schools now, at least not high schools around here. However, they did teach me the math skills to work that out for myself.
If this doesn’t scream out sig line, I don’t know what does.
Anway on the topic of the OP, here’s my three recommendations.
1 - A course in basic finances. Not economic theory; I’m talking about information on how to open a bank account, apply for a loan, figure out your taxes, plan a budget, make basic investments, etc. This of course would include the information from the OP.
2 - A trade. Most students graduate from high school with no particular employment skills. I’d like to see every student participating in vocational training in addition to the academic education they receive. Even those students who plan on moving directly on to college and professional degrees would benefit from learning skills they can use in their own life.
3 - A foreign language. The United States has an abyssmal record in this. I think every American student should be required to be able to speak English and at least one other language in order to graduate.
CRITICAL READING. Most of my students arrive in college thinking that anything they see in print must be true. They have no idea how to identify biased language, illogical arguments, or unsupported statements.
Statistics, and how to tell when they’re being used deceptively.
Geography; world history; foreign languages. (OK, three subjects, but one main point: most high school curricula barely hint at the existence of a world outside of the US.)
Critical Thinking: by lumping Fretful Porpentine’s#1 and #2 together, so it covers both reading and statistical interpretation
First Aid: and other life skills for emergency situations, including changing a tire, fixing plumbing leaks long enough to hold you over until you can get a professional, and how to protect yourself if you are in a potentially dangerous situation. Reading this over makes me sound like some sort of survivalist, and I really don’t mean anything that extreme! I just remember getting to college, and realizing I would have no idea what to do if my car broke down in the middle of the night while I was alone.
Business math: “business math” was the euphemism in my high school for the class you took if you couldn’t handle real math – meaning you learned addition and subtraction so you could balence a checkbook. I think a more valuable course would teach things about what happens when you apply for a mortgage, or to finance a car, and the stock market and how that works. I propose this in addition to, not in place of, other math courses.
I wish that someone had sat me down and done a Clockwork Orange on me involving the real life. How graduating from college with no skills is pretty much the same as graduating from high school with no skills. How a low paying job means you don’t have a lot of money. How the world can be harshly unfair and no potential employer owes you a chance to prove yourself or pay you more just because you think you deserve it.
To those in the real world, this seems blatantly obvious stuff. To those not in the real world, this won’t ever sink in until its too late.
I just got out of High School And I sure as hell wish they would have taught us about credit cards and loans and stuff. The guy at the bank I use had to explain it all to me; I felt like an idiot!
Also they need to teach relationship skills/ people skills. Most “kids” don’t know how to work with other people or handel themselves in an interview.
Third…I’m not sure. I wish that school would demand better rading skills out of graduates, but I’m not sure that will ever happen.
Good topic guys…now if only someone could actually change things.
My first choice would be one that a few people have already mnetioned - a course covering finances, how to take care of bills, and a complete understanding of credit. I am amazed at how many people are in credit card debt, somehow never realizing that they actually have to pay for what they charge.
Just as important would be delphica’s suggestion of a First Aid course.
Third would be some kind of course in common sense, if there were such a course. Maybe it’s over-reliance on computers, but I find more and more people who just have no common sense - they couldn’t figure their way out of a paper bag.
Well, I was required to take I believe two years of a language (German) in High School (I graduated in '98), but I ended up taking four years. Even though I was from a very conservative midwestern town (Midland, MI, world headquarters of Dow Chemical and Dow Corning, for the record), I’m very surprised on their approach to foriegn language. Most elementary students begin learning Spanish as early as Kindergarten, and students can take either French or German beginning in the 8th grade. As far as basic finances, I completely agree. I’m learning about the proper way to balance my budget, let’s just say the hard way. And as far as a trade, again I agree. I would have loved to have had learned a bit about electronics during my time in high school. Since I was following the honors route, it would have been uncouth for me to take the time to be in shop class. Now that I’m nearing graduate school and my career path is becomming more and more apparent (observational astronomy), an intermediate knowledge of electronics and equipment mantainance would have been supurb, but again I’m having to teach myself.
thanks.