subject: Financial Education – Should teenagers learn about ISA's and be warned against Iceland? [print this page] Financial Education Should teenagers learn about ISA's and be warned against Iceland?
When I left school I had a very vague conception about banks and how the finance industry worked. Nowadays I have to use it on a daily basis, but I've learned the hard way. The focus of this article is whether money skills' should be taught at secondary schools as part of the curriculum to ensure that people leave school with the necessary tools to keep their money safe and working for them.
You could say that financial wherewithal should be learned at home from parents, family, guardians, etc. In some ways this is true; parents are a young person's biggest influence when it comes to spending habits, the value they place on certain things, etc. Furthermore, the curriculum is getting increasingly cluttered and could do without having another subject to deal with and the extra expertise needed that goes with it.
However, we are getting to the point as a country where the aforementioned financial know-how has never been taught at all and it's missing this coming generation. This in many ways is not the fault of the parents: the financial industry can change quicker than the regular parent can keep up with in any real depth. Banking' is complicated, even in its simplest form on the high street. Not being taught it properly by someone who knows what they're talking about only makes people financially vulnerable. An education in finance would/should also include education into making good financial decisions: when taking a loan is appropriate; when is a good time to save; how savings can be protected and made useful; etc.
It looks like we've hit the trough of the country's recession and are looking to regain some of the budget deficit we've struggled with for so long. This either means we're headed again for the good times' (where it would do to have people making responsible, sustainable financial decisions) or we're going to stay in the doldrums for a little while longer (in which case it's more important than ever to look after the finances and keep things safe and healthy).
For the sake of an hour a fortnight under the guidance of someone who knows what they're talking about, we could have a generation of young people who actually know how the industry works and how to use and save their money best. Or we could allow another generation to slip through the system, learn as they go' and make some truly awful decisions along the way at the hands of high-street banks. Which is the better option?
