Home Economics.

Being an educator who worked in the years when Home Economics was a course taught to girls beginning at grade seven and continuing. Later the course was integrated and boys and girls both enjoyed taking both home economics and manual training. Since that day courses have changed names and curricula updated to reflect the needs of the present day.

I would like to see a course called home economics which would teach students the value of money, budgeting and planning. With our world in crisis because of deficit planning, deficit budgeting and sinking further and further in debt it would be prudent to teach our youth how to live without huge debt. Because our leaders are totally irresponsible when it comes to budget maybe if we as individuals could somehow influence them by example.

There is so much written and reported about our population being so far in debt the reason must be obvious. Most people spend more money than they have.If we could teach our youth to live within their means it would be such a boon to our society. There are reasons for the problem and most are right before our eyes. Credit used to be a means to have necessities which cost too much for people to purchase them with cash. Rules were established by the lending institutions which made it difficult if not impossible to buy something without a large down payment. Yesterday Hyundai Auto sales advertised on TV and in the paper the following deal. Purchase one of their vehicles with no down payment and they would give you $7,000 to pay your personal debt. How is that for helping folks to really get into debt.

This type of consumer advertising is all too common. Here are a few. Buy now and make no payments for up to three years. Bad credit or no credit at all,,come in and drive away in one of our new cars. There are dozens of these adds out there beckoning people to become slaves to the credit interest. The USA government now uses over 40% of our taxes to service the debt. Individuals  have the same problem. I worry that the crisis we narrowly escaped is not over and a larger demon is in the wings.

Everyone  wishes for fiscal responsibility  and it must be taught and the example starts at home.Education cannot be responsible for everything but it could be a marvellous tool to help develop young responsible citizens.