A growing number of districts are considering adding personal finance to their student curriculum.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A recent survey found that 88 percent of adults in this country feel unprepared to manage their own money when they graduate high school.
3NEWS featured an article in February about how few local high school students are being taught personal finance.
Since then, nine schools in the Coastal Bend have considered Ramsey Educational Foundation's personal finance curriculum, and two local schools are already using it.
Many people feel that this subject has been needed in high schools for many years because it is difficult for parents to teach their children how to handle money.
Students are also not prepared to do something as simple as their own taxes after graduation.
One of the schools using the Ramsey Curriculum is Flower Bluff High School.
Learning the benefits of saving was one of the biggest revelations for Kylie Tomlinson, a personal finance student at Ryan Cervantes' school.
“If you save money overall by buying used items, you will be able to buy more expensive things later in life, because you can sell used items and have more money in your pocket. Because I can leave it behind,” Tomlinson said.
Cervantes teaches financial literacy and economics. What surprised him most about his students was how ignorant they were about their money.
“The most shocking thing was about budgeting,” Cervantes said. “Just making a budget. It's knowing how much you're spending, where your money is going, and the importance of saving money. As far as the Ramsey Foundation says, they You say you don't want to pay anyone anything or go into debt. You have to pay everything in cash and it's impossible to know how much you have if you don't know where the money is going. Is possible.”
Ramsey's personal finance curriculum is designed to help children take charge of their own lives.
George Kamel, co-host of Dave Ramsey's radio show, also designed the curriculum and is the online teacher for the course.
“What does it feel like when you actually receive that paycheck? What is taken out of your taxes? It helps students understand the basics so they can confidently take the next step as they become adults. “,” he said.
Kamel said the course is being taught in two local school districts, including Ingleside and Flower Bluff, and is currently being considered at nine other local schools.
It's the end of tax season this year, so for many first-time filers, a personal finance lesson may be just in time.
“Trying to teach teenagers who are just starting to make money how this works and how to file can cause a lot of brain damage. That's why we “What we do with our curriculum is just keep it simple,” Kamel said. “We tell them exactly what they need to know.”
You can contact Ramsey Education by clicking here.
