Can schools teach teens how to handle money?

[jeffrey]

Coming of age in the great recession has made students more aware of financial concerns, but it hasn’t provided them the tools to be more financially responsible.

Local educators have recognized this, and in September, Virginia became the fourth state (alongside Tennessee, Utah and Missouri) to implement a mandatory class in personal finance and economics for all incoming freshmen. And Maryland just became one of 21 states to adopt an “integrated” approach to teaching these subjects, folding them into social studies and math...

Virginia and Maryland schools require personal finance courses, but how much will they help? - The Washington Post

[disneysteve]

My daughter, a 10th grader, has to take a mandatory personal finance class. We are eager to see what it consists of. My daughter has already been through "Dad's Financial Academy" so I don't expect that she will learn anything in the class - she could probably teach it - but it is desperately needed by most kids (and most adults for that matter).

[bjl584]

I think that's a great idea, so long as the course cirriculum is good. I hope they teach things like living below your means, saving for retirement, and how to save money when making major purchases like homes and cars. Hopefully they won't teach things like you have to take on debt to build credit or that a credit card can be used as an emergency fund.