Why don't high schools teach the right things?

[Anonymous]

For instance my state requires students to pas the earth science test in forder to graduate. They must learn about polaris, bedrocks and all. However they don't require students to know how to write a resume or interview for a job, and public schools don't offer any classes for these things or other things more likely to be used in life like personal finance.

[Anonymous]

Because high school is supposed to give students a good liberal arts foundation so that they can learn how to learn. Kids need to exercise their brains to learn calculus, foreign languages or read The Odyssey.

Jobs that require a resumé, generally require college, and colleges have career centers for that.

Personal finance is too abstract for most high schoolers. Tax rules change yearly.

[Anonymous]

Public schools do offer those classes. Personal finance is usually offered as “business math” for the lowest level math students who need a last math class to graduate.

[Anonymous]

I feel so lucky that in one math class at my private HS, my teacher told us we were on track to finish our curriculum early so was there anything else we wanted her to teach and I asked how to do taxes. So she taught us. I have done my own taxes since I was 17 years old.

[Anonymous]

Personal finance is taught at most HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For instance my state requires students to pas the earth science test in forder to graduate. They must learn about polaris, bedrocks and all. However they don't require students to know how to write a resume or interview for a job, and public schools don't offer any classes for these things or other things more likely to be used in life like personal finance.

personal finance is a required course for HS 8n Virginia

[Anonymous]

where to begin

[Anonymous]

Your assertion that public schools don’t offer classes on these topics isn’t correct.

My kids are at a FCPS public high school. They were required to take a personal finance class. They learned how to write resumes in English class. And one of my daughters took leadership where she had to interview for the class and learn how to interview others.

[Anonymous]

My 10th grader today took a wellness quiz type thing and said the entire class scored low on the financial portion because nobody had a retirement account. She thought it was dumb to ding her for not having a retirement account or a budget when she doesn't even have a job yet and doesn't spend money.

It's certainly important to learn about taxes and budgets and investing, but maybe teenagers aren't the right audience. I wouldn't want to learn about Medicare part D and senior discounts right now because it's not useful information to me at this point in my life.

Lots of information is learned after high school. Should we teach teens how to change diapers, talk to aging parents about end of life care, unclog a toilet, choosing a health care plan, making a will, choosing a mortgage, hosting a dinner party, etc.?

[Anonymous]

I opened this thread wanting to agree with you, but I completely disagree. Frankly I think schools should teach harder classes and less fluff.

I easily figured out personal finance, resumes and interviews.

[Anonymous]

I agree high school should be less college prep and more focused on skills to have a career and be a successful adult

Most kids won't complete college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For instance my state requires students to pas the earth science test in forder to graduate. They must learn about polaris, bedrocks and all. However they don't require students to know how to write a resume or interview for a job, and public schools don't offer any classes for these things or other things more likely to be used in life like personal finance.

Because what's right for you and your family is not right for our kids and our family.

Our kids had jobs that needed resumes at 15 (lifeguarding, and had babysat and been CIT at summercamp before that), and we helped them with that. We also taught them about budgeting and investing (their earnings went into their own accounts, and we offered to match whatever they put into an IRA, which one took us up on and one did not).

[Anonymous]

1) schools do offer those classes

2) school is supposed to teach what can’t be easily acquired independently or at home

3) non-traditional schools such as Montessori secondary schools would focus on such things

[Anonymous]

Equity.

That is the only thing that matters right now.

I think the schools are doing a good job teaching equity.

[Anonymous]

You don't think it's important to know about the earth that supports all life? A sense of the structure you live on?

Writing a resume is highly dependent on what job you are applying for, what your background is etc. There are many examples on line. We don't need high schools to "teach" that. People need a resume post-college mainly anyway, and they then work with their career center to craft one suited to their background and goals. If you're getting a job fresh out of high school, you're just filling out an application 99% of the time.