'Family life' classes urged for schools

[Newsjock]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/217905_family29.html?dpfrom=thead

By JESSICA BLANCHARD
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

There are reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic, but proponents of a bill working its way through the Legislature say it's time to focus on a fourth "R" in education -- relationships.

The House earlier this month passed a bill that would encourage public high schools to offer "family-preservation" classes on building loving relationships, resolving conflicts, being responsible parents and managing money.

... "It's a neglected area of our educational system," said Rep. Dave Quall, D-Mount Vernon, the bill's chief sponsor.

... " 'Family preservation' -- what the heck is that?" asked Rep. Steve Kirby, D-Tacoma, one of four representatives to vote against the bill, ESHB1252.

Kirby worries that high schools that create the curriculum could wind up alienating some students by promoting the traditional family structure -- a mother, a father and their children -- over other types of families, such as those headed by a single parent or a gay couple.

more

[realisticphish]

1. perhaps a "life skills" class

rather than focus on the family (ha) focus on things we need to knokw, but are NEVER taught. i.e., money management (ESPECIALLY credit cards), and stuff like that

[lovuian]

2. Managing Money this is so important!!!

and our schools teach them nothing!!!

[DrZeeLit]

9. Absolutely! Managing money should be a mandatory class.

How many times do you hear "if I had only known about..." regarding money?

Credit, investment, savings, interest, and basic banking.

The fact that the majority of the populace is ignorant about investment is the primary reason "privatized" accounts won't work. We've been taking a random poll. Most adults who have 401k's don't really understand them and do not follow their investments, nor do they "max" their contributions or know how much their employer contributes.

Young people aren't that interested in saving or investing because the culture is all about spending. Look in any magazine -- the models are all very young and the message is "buy this."

Money used to be cloaked in mystery. Banks were like libraries -- quiet, somber places. Nobody talked about money -- it wasn't "done." When I went to college, I didn't even know how to write a check. I didn't know how much money my parent's made or what it cost to live.

A friends 30 year old son (an investment banker in Chicago) recently joined the Army (he felt a "call" to service). When he saw the way the younger guys blew their paychecks, he began to explain investment and savings. When some officers heard about it, they asked him to give classes. That's what they need.

[trogdor]

14. They need to hear it from peers, if possible.

Like your friend's son in the Army. Commanders love it when they can get a fellow enlisted man to talk about this sort of thing; good advice from peers gets more ears than the same advice coming from the chain-of-command. Twenty year olds aren't that much different from teenagers like that.

[slackmaster]

13. Amen to that!

Most of us are babes in the woods when we navigate the process of buying a home for the first time, or try to figure out how to plan for retirement.

[Trillo]

3. I wonder what the the long-term lessons of being kicked out

of HS are? How does the 'banishment' lesson effect survival in its many varied facets, including relationships, but not limited to them?

Oh, never mind, I already know. They're rhetorical questions.

[jmcon007]

4. Won't work. Bush has MBA from Harvard. He can't manage money.

[dbt]

5. Classes in How To Watch TV News would be a good thing.

Teaching the young ones how to detect outright BS and lying-by-omission would be a great start.

[Nevernose]

12. I already teach that class

The school administration, of course, refers to it as "English," but it's all the same.

[napi21]

6. Actually, if it was done right, it wouldn't be a bad thing.

It all depends on what is taught and how.

I think it's a good thing to teach things like...

Yhink long and hard BEFORE you decide to marry. Remember there is that phrase "Till death do us part".

Talk to each other when something is bothering you. Most people aren't mind readers.

You really can't have everything right now! That's what gets people into serious debt.

Treat your partner as you like to be treated. If you would feel hurt by some things you say, they will feel hurt too.

How to manage money and credit. Include how much it costs to have a baby, and raise it till it's an adult.


It's a sad thing that few if any of these things are ever taught. It is supposed to be taught by parents, but how many do?

[JerseygirlCT]

7. I'd be concerned

first, schools are cutting out essentials like music and art in order to fit all these required classes. They're focusing less on learning and more on testing to suit NCLB. What gets pushed aside to make room for lessons kids ought to be learning at home?

Perhaps better would be a longer school day? (I'm serious) Or classes offered free of charge after school? (Would the kids who need it take advantage?)

But I'm also concerned about the curriculum of such a class: who determines it? Whose values?

I think this is a slippery slope we're treading on here.

Things like money management make sense, and could easily be included in a math class curriculum. Other "life skills" basics are already covered in "health" classes.

Perhaps the bigger answer is to step back and wonder why models for successful family life seem to be in shorter supply. Why are we (the general "we", not DU) preaching a great deal about family and doing so little to support real families?

edited to fix grammar

[Mithras61]

15. I agree that this is an area that needs work...

and suspect that we once again have a state that is trying to fix a problem by having schools handle what parents should be doing.

In my small Wisconsin home town back in the '70s, we had a class on basic money management (writing a check, balancing a checkbook, budgeting, etc.) and family life (how to live with people without hitting them, etc.). At the time I thought it was silly because it was stuff that "everybody knows" but since it was mandatory, I went along with it.

Since then, I've learned quite a bit about how few people in this country really have the basic skills needed to be an adult in our society. The basic problem is "Since we didn't learn it, how can we teach it to our children?" and the answer we have had until now is to learn by trying and failing (bankruptcy and divorce were options back then, but may not be for much longer). This state is trying to step in and say "You must have this type of class in your curriculum" as the solution to not having critical knowledge passed on to the children.

Once the state steps in, though, you now have the issue you mentioned about who selects the curriculum and to what purpose.

Your question about why we have so few models of successful families may be the fundamental problem they are trying to address here.

[bleedingheart]

8. Life Skills classes were offered when I was in High School

These classes were actually mandatory for those individuals who took a "life skills" test and failed.

The class taught basic household budgeting, check writing (you would be suprised at the people who didn't know how to make out a check), and other stuff about who and what was responsible for stuff..."who do you call if your basement is flooded" questions were addressed.

You would think most thinking people woudl know the answers to these questions but a lot of kids are so pampered or neglected by parents that they are completely unaware of how to care for themselves.

[Larkspur]

10. I recommend Feminist Riane Eisler's program "Partnership Education"

For it teaches kids not just about nuclear family relationships but also about how to relate to non-family members as well as to our biosphere. It's an all inclusive program.

http://www.partnershipway.org/html/pepmain.htm

Partnership Education offers a new integrative approach that puts the joy back into education for teachers and students alike. Based on the concepts outlined by Riane Eisler in Tomorrow’s Children. Partnership Education helps young people achieve their highest potentials both academically and personally.

CPS supports the implementation of Partnership Education by working with educators, parents, and policy makers to transform educational process, content, and structure to help young people acquire the skills and knowledge essential for fulfilling and productive lives and a sustainable, equitable, and peaceful future.

Information and resources needed to understand and implement Partnership Education are available on the right. Each link will open a new window, simply close the window to return here.

For more information on Partnership Education e-mail us at [e-mail]

Here's the 6 Keys to Partnership Education http://www.partnershipway.org/pep/newkeys.htm

[LeighAnn]

11. This class was forced on me as a junior

Taught me how "wrong" and "dysfunctional" my household was. Caused a dramatic lessening in the respect I had for my parents. The money management issues taught me how to be a responsible consumer (sheeple), but the "family living" part was a bunch of psychobabble and crap that I wish I'd never been exposed to.

[0007]

16. Hmmmm. Now kids go to school to learn to love as a family

Learn prayer and patriotism. Learn how to abstain from sex. Learn how to control money.

Alcohol and lotto tickets right around the corner. Big poker games on TV. Whores on the street like lice on junior's balls. Big casino thirty miles away.

0h Hum!!

[Mari333]

17. How demeaning! I was a widow who raised 3 boys

what if they had those classes when my kids were little? Was I supposed to marry the first guy I met after my first husband died just to accomodate their vision of a mommy and daddy house? What would that have done to my sons, who had just lost their dad? How disgusting, and again, the BIG GOVT sticking its NOSE into everyone's private life.