Personal Debt In Education Essay

Personal Finance Course in High Schools

We all know that the national debt for the United States is in the trillions, we hear about it all the time. What we sometimes do not think about is the American public’s personal debt. According to the U.S. Census Bureau data shows that in 2016, out of a population of around 323 million, 63% of American adults had credit card debt and 17% had student loan debt. What is really mind blowing is that 22.9% of the American population in 2016 with debt were under the age of 18? With so many young adults in school and graduates in debt, personal finance should be implemented into the high school curriculum as a mandatory class to graduate.

With the U.S. being one of the world’s leading capitalist countries, the American people love to spend money. If you look at the Federal Reserve website, federal reserve.gov, the American household had 999 billion dollars in credit card debt and 2.8 trillion dollars in loan debt. With young adults leaving their homes to either go to college, join the military, or join the workforce not understand personal finance leaves them in a vulnerable position. Young adults need to learn how to manage their money wisely and the effects

It is not the responsibility of the education system to teach them how to spend their money, just like it is not the education department to teach them right from wrong. That is the parent’s responsibility to teach their kids not to steal, not to cheat, not to lie. Parents should teach their children how to be responsible adults in society which includes how to be financial smart. There is a fine boundary between what should be taught in schools and what the responsibility of the parents is. Educators cannot force students to eat healthy, study, or do their homework etc. That is on the parents to encourage their children to do so to