I’m not one to write about my children on a personal level. I’ll mention their thoughts about things I am sent to review, and occasionally I might write about something else and reference them, but for the most part I keep my husband and children out of my blog posts.
Both of my kids are in their early 20’s now (sigh…). They attend college, and both have two jobs. My son has a full time job and a part time job, and goes to college part time. My daughter has two part time jobs and attends college full time. They pay their own bills, as they should. But it amazes me how little they truly know about being an adult.
If you ask either one of my kids what a 401K savings plan is, they wouldn’t know how to respond. If I asked them how they would find term life insurance quotes, they would probably look at me like I had three heads (ha ha). To be honest, I don’t even know if they understand what term life insurance is, let alone how to compare rates.
The other day my daughter had to make out a package. She took it to the post office and thought she could just hand it to the postal worker and leave, not realizing that she had to PAY to ship it out. She honestly thought things shipped for free, like they do when she returns the textbooks she rents from Chegg or Amazon. She didn’t understand that they provide you with a pre-paid return address label. She thought shipping ALL packages were that way. That was certainly a face palm moment. For the record, my daughter was an outstanding student in school. If she received a grade less than 90 she would freak out. She also does exceptionally well in college. She’s very “book smart,” but apparently she is not too “smart” when it comes to the real world.
I think that schools should teach children “real world” and “real life” skills. It’s important to learn about math, science and history, but classes on things kids NEED to know when they are adults is equally as important. Parents can only teach them so much when it comes to life skills. To be honest, I don’t even know if I can explain how to get term life insurance quotes, and I think I need to learn more about 401K’s too (I know what they are, but I’m sure there is a lot I don’t know about them).
When I was in school (back in the “Stone Age,” or so it seems), we learned things like cooking, baking, sewing, writing checks and other important life skills. Although I don’t think it’s necessary for a child to learn how to make a vest or bake lasagna like I did when I was in school, I think things like balancing checkbooks, how to budget money, how to invest, how to save and other important things should be taught, or at the very least touched upon. If that is not possible, school should at least offer a course students can take as an elective in college. Don’t you agree?
I will give my son credit. He took a finance class in high school and learned how to make basic investments. He does own a few stocks that he researched and purchased on his own. He’s only 21, so I think that is not too bad. My husband and I are clueless when it comes to stuff like that. We let our financial person handle that. Too bad our son didn’t continue learning about finances – he could have been our financial person.
While I’m on the subject of topics kids should learn in school, couldn’t schools offer a self defense class? I think that is another useful thing for children to learn about. It can be taught in a way so as not to frighten children. Or wait until kids are in junior high and have a better understanding of “stranger danger.” Younger kids can be taught other things like how to call 9-1-1 in case of an emergency, and basic fire safety procedures.
With the way the weather has been the past 10+ years, teaching children on what to do in case of a hurricane, tornado, or flood is also practical information.
Do you agree with me on any of the points I made in this post? Do you think children, teens or college students should be talk basic “adult” skills in school/college, or do you think it’s the soul responsibility of the parents? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic. What other adult skills do you think young adults should know? Comment and shares your thoughts.
Kimberly
*This post in in partnership with Responsival. Although compensated, the post and opinions are entirely my own and not influenced in any way.