I wonder if you could talk to the teacher in a non-confrontational way...in a way that would improve the class instead of criticizing it. I think it's GREAT that personal finance is being taught AT ALL. It certainly wasn't even mentioned when I was in school, and that's too bad.

But, what if you could suggest improving the class in the following ways (if the teacher won't, at least you could work with Nell for a more complete picture):

Each kid gets a certain amount of money. If the teacher insists on the marriage thing, that's okay since it's reasonable to assume that most of the kids will end up getting married or sharing financial responsibility with someone.

Each kid can have options of what to do with that money: buy a new car with a loan, buy a clunker with cash, use public transit or bike, buy a house, rent, etc. They would also be required to put a certain percentage away for savings--and show how that savings grows with compound interest and regular contributions.

That's pretty complex, though, so maybe the teacher is trying to simplify things for the sake of teaching the basics. Is this just a segment of the class, not the whole class? I mean, I assume if they are learning how loans work, they will also learn how savings works, right? So maybe looking at the whole class instead of this segment will reveal a more balanced approach...I'd be interested to know if that is the case.

But really, any exposure is good in my book. You can always pick up the slack at home if it's important to you. My family never spoke of money, and I'm pretty much still in the woods about it at age 42.