Education Minister Kathleen Wynee said that they are not only looking to add in a course concerning financial responsibility but to "build financial literacy into the existing curriculum." She did not of course, forget to mention the economic crisis and stated that we need to ensure a "financially literate population."
At first, the assumption that first comes to mind (came to my mind) is that when our next global economic crisis comes around, now there will be good reason to further put the blame on citizens for not practicing "financial responsibility." What will they fill the 9 years with? Probably, lessons on the "responsible use of credit" and explore the different types of investment opportunities available to you and understand how you can increase the value of your earnings.... Not that these are necessarily "bad" things to learn, but they should not be the only topics covered.
What they should be teaching students is to read the fineprint of credit card and cellphone contracts and to be able to identify and see through the ill intended marketing and and advertisements that we are exposed to on a daily basis.
I remember getting my first credit card here at Brock. As I was walking down Thistle hall after class, I swas stopped by a person flinging a clipboard at my face asking me if I had a few minutes. My incentive to apply for this creidt card was a Brock backpack that broke within that week and a 18.99% interest rate that has followed me to my fourth year of university.
How about we teach kids to spend the money that they HAVE? Isn't that responsible spending? It is generally up to the family and parents to teach their kids through disciplinary allowances - once that $10 bucks is gone for the week, you know you're not getting anymore.
Flaherty was quoted as saying that "the recent financial turmoil was fuelled by a lack of financial literacy." Was it really? Did those people who make less than $50,000 a year did not realize that they would not be able to pay off their $350,000 mortgage? Or was it the banks, the most financially literate institutions in civil society not realize this? Neither make sense. The idea was that it was acceptable to lend money those who could not afford to pay it back on the assumption that housing would never go down in value and any foreclores would end in profit for the bank regardless.
After slightly getting off topic there for a bit, I cannot say that I am against education of any kind. However, I hope it is the right kind of "financial literacy" that the students will be taught, one that teaches the ramifications of over consumption in our society rather than impose the values that have gotten us into this mess in the first place.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/investor-education/ontario-schools-to-teach-financial-literacy/article1348708/
I have not officially worked since last summer and I am heavily in student debt. . . but a few weeks ago I recieved a letter in the mail, where the credit card company decided to increase my limit by several thousands of dollars .. . this makes no sense to me. . . let's give credit to people that can't afford it, because we know they are the one's that will be in debt and paying us interest for year . . . it all comes down to greed.
ReplyDeleteAs an educator I really hope that they don't impose another class. . . the government has done this in the past, trying to react to current trends in order to garner the most votes (they instituted the TAP program, which was a complete failure, and now we have the successor, Careers)
ReplyDeleteBut at the same time, I think that kids should be informed about these issues at some point. Educators are always trying to provide a link between the "real world" and the "classroom" . .. so a lesson or two on credit cards seems like a great idea.
I agree with the poster, we have a responsibility to educate our children. . . not just getting them to memorizes facts and names, but to teach them to think for themselves and make informed decisions. If they are offered a deal that seems "too good to be true" then they should know to ask questions and read the fine print. . . too many people are going off into the real world with no common sense . . .