Schools Should Bring Back Home Economics
July 22, 2007 by Living Life Abundantly
Filed under Blast from the Past
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Back in the day schools had Home Economics and classes like Autoshop as part of the required curriculum. When I was in school those classes were long gone. In looking back I wish those classes were required then and I believe that schools should certainly bring them back now…of course with a modern day twist.
Its fair to say we are taught to be consumers. Instead of using our hands to create unique styles and fashions we go to the mall, instead of hemming our own clothes or sewing on buttons we go to the dry cleaners…time is always the excuse for buying fast food rather than preparing a home cooked meal…I have heard many people say that they eat out because they can’t cook. That’s insane, they can’t cook because they don’t want to cook. How hard is it to pick up a cookbook or turn on Rachel Ray’s 30 minute meals?
Men and women should know how to prepare a decent meal, balance a checkbook, clean a house properly, replace a missing button, take care of a family, spend money wisely, and so forth. I know that not everyone wants children or a family for that matter, but the fact remains that Everyone should know how to run a home and how to do basic maintenance on a car.
Home Economics courses are a great way to prepare young adults for leaving the nest. While the expectation is that parents will prepare their children…the reality is that some kids have poor examples, others spend little to know time with their parents, and some parents cripple their children by doing everything for them. Teaching the fundamentals of maintaining a household should be a no brainer.
The ideal Home Economics class would touch on matters such as:
- Food Preparation & Nutrition
- Recycling
- Consumer Science
- Family Relations
- Basic Tailoring/Sewing
- Parenting
- Child Development
- First Aid
- Household Expense Budgeting
- Credit Management
- Money Management
- Time Management
- Home Buying/Ownership
- Home Design & Interior Decorating
- Safety/Emergency Preparation
The AutoShop classes would cut down on people getting ripped off by mechanics and places like EZ Lube. When my 1st car broke down on me a shady mechanic got over on me. since then I’ve been leary of mechanics they can just tell you anything and charge whatever…its not like you can look under the hood and say nope thats wrong. It sucks!
Back in the day it was customary that dads taught their sons to change tires and the oil etc…Now with absentee fathers and fathers that didn’t have the benefit of autoshop or a dad to teach them young men have no choice but to take their cars to an autoshop. Women are on the road driving just as much as men if not more. Ladies, what happens if you’re driving through an area the tire blows out, your cellphone is out of range, no onstar, and no gas station in sight? You’re stuck if you don’t know how to change a tire lol.
Why has Home Economics and Autoshop disappeared from schools? I can think of more Pro’s than I can Cons of why these classes should be required. What do you think?
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