Financial (Mis)education

There is a frightening truth about our educational system. No its not the declassified ingredients of last weeks sloppy joes being served once again as "leftovers" in the school cafeterias. Its a much more surprising fact. Its what schools are (or more importantly aren't) teaching kids about financial education. While English, Math, and Science are required courses, Personal Finance is either not required or not available. Instead, children are taught how to be competitive in the job market but not how to handle the money they are being taught to earn. This sets them up for lives of debt and a difficult financial future. What is even more disturbing is the lack of instruction on how to make money for themselves. They are taught to learn the skills that are necessary to work for someone else but don't learn how to make money for themselves.

 As students we are constantly taught that it is wrong to fail. In school you are viewed as stupid or lazy if you fail. I understand the need to test students to see how the information is being retained. I also believe Science, Math, and English are important subjects (although I cant recall ever having to explain the theory of evolution in perfect grammar while balancing my checkbook). What message does this teach our kids when its time to come in from recess and introduce themselves to the "real world"? Is it ok to be complacent and not take the sometimes necessary risks needed to succeed because we are afraid to fail? Think about how many times we must fail in life in order to learn how to succeed. How many people didn't fall off of that bike the first time you took the training wheels off? How many times did you fall down before you took your first step? How can we learn from our mistakes when we are taught that it is wrong to make them? 

"Financial education needs to become a part of our national curriculum and scoring systems so that it’s not just the rich kids that learn about money.. it’s all of us."
David Bach