3 minute read
Counting the pennies by Ivy Barrington
COUNTING THE PENNIES
IVY BARRINGTON wants financial literacy taught in our classrooms to equip high school students for the future.
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We live in a society in which wealth and resources are highly important, and as years progress, many people are sinking with the weight of these values.
This happens through a lack of financial understanding. We are constantly hearing about how our generation will be the face of the future, but how can this happen when we have little to no knowledge of how to handle our money?
Without financial literacy classes becoming available in high schools, the money we could have saved to fulfil our dreams will end up in the wallet of Nike’s CEO. The temptation to purchase items is all around us, and we need to know how to resist them.
Consider the things you learn from each of your classes at school. There are a countless number of mathematical equations, and scientific processes, that the majority of students will most likely never need to apply in real-life situations.
It’s all well and good to learn about E = mc2, but there are a lot more positive outcomes from taking financial literacy classes at school.
You can develop the ability to calculate investment rates, understand the risks and rewards that come with certain monetary decisions, and learn to control your spending and saving. Even if you did want to become the future’s next Albert Einstein, it would certainly help to have some money to kickstart your career. All of the lessons we currently learn at school are important, and we need to start thinking rationally, and realise students need to be equipped with necessary skills for the real world.
Our generation needs to understand how to handle money to prepare for the future. Do you want to see naive high school students blowing their savings on all of the latest gadgets, rather than using them to purchase their first car to drive to school? This is an extremely likely situation if financial literacy classes aren’t implemented as an available option in schools. Recent studies conducted by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand have shown $13 billion of total household debt across our country is consumer debt.
Simply put, all of this money is from people buying things they cannot afford. Another study showed that less than 42 percent of people were able to answer half of the German Commerzbank AG survey questions about financial literacy correctly.
Unless changes are made soon, this could have a negative impact on not only people’s mental, physical and financial state, but the declining economy of future generations. in today’s society, as more pressure is being placed on people to make change, especially for our generation. With the effects of climate change, social media, busy lives, and many more issues, you cannot deny the negative impact this has on people’s mental well-being. And the number one culprit?
Stress. In 2018 alone, nearly 30 percent of students aged 18-24 claimed they felt medium to high levels of stress on a daily basis, according to those who took the New Zealand Health Survey.
Research by the Commission for Financial Capability shows that 82 percent of Kiwis aged 18-34 are stressed about money. These are extremely high numbers. Knowing how to handle financial situations could dramatically reduce the amount of stress people suffer, which is why lessons should be made an option in schools.
It is clear many advantages can be taken away from this learning and used in everyday life. Even if it isn’t a mandatory course in schools, the option should be there.
Most students cannot learn these things from home, because of the lack of financial understanding their parents have, and this has obvious consequences. Serious changes need to be made to ensure we, the face of the future, can live up to our title. Remember this; our generation impacts the economy, the future, you.
