School teaches loans as a a way of life

[zoom-zoom]

+1... at 50... and well aware of the position I put myself in by letting DH take care of all of that.

Yep...I'm almost 37 and pretty clueless about money, because I didn't grow up with any example of how it should be handled--at all. Luckily my hubby comes from a family where money management was just something they did and these people all move into retirement with some relative degree of wealth. But it scares me. My parents are both 65 and have almost no savings...and have never owned a house and are now pretty much f'd, since they have no choice but to keep paying rent. They can never retire. That's enough to scare me straight!

I wish my HS would have had more than just a unit on how to handle a checkbook. I could have really benefitted from understanding loans and credit cards and wise money management practices. $ matters make my head spin, now.

[ginny]

hmm....Mel, I agree that the teacher is backing old stereotypes with the 'marriage' thing. I also agree that there are other options to having a car... I see the benefit of teaching personal finance, but I think those two points above are troubling. I'm sure that (was it Tulip?) is correct thinking that the teacher is trying to simplify things, but if it was my child in a course like that, I would be inclined to make some waves. I like that your child practiced the line about marriage - love it, in fact! Would have loved to have heard the report had she delivered the line. Personal finance is one thing. Perpetuating puritanical belief systems is another. Maybe the teacher could give options to which kinds of loans the students have to take out (student loans with slightly lower interest rates than car loans... credit card debt with twice the interest rate of the next highest loan...) - and lose the marriage thing altogether. That seems really entirely superfluous to the actual lesson to be learned.

[Veronica]

I don't think my marriage is outdated and my husband does make significantly more than I do, mostly out of career choice. Given those facts, I still don't feel "subjugated."

I love how non teachers try to second guess a teacher's lesson plan. "I'm sure it could be done better this way." Fine, get into teaching and do it your way.

Teaching is a fine balancing act. Have you considerd that the teacher may need to keep it simple so that all the students can grasp the concept. Hmmm... I bet that teacher still has some kids who don't know their basic math facts and can't read beyond a third grade level.

Veronica