Lawmakers in North Carolina and Rhode Island are working on passing bills that would require high school students to take classes about money and budgeting. Right now, only 19 states have such requirements (Florida currently does not, but there's a bill in the House addressing the issue).
If passed, the courses would cover such topics as paying for college, home mortgages, credit scores, car loans, managing credit cards and “the true cost of credit."
I am personally in favor of this. Think about how many money mistakes you could have avoided if you'd known then what you know now? My husband and I are in our mid-30s, and still paying for stupid financial mistakes we made 15 years ago....it would have been great to know this information before we got buried in student debt, among other things.
And while I understand the view that parents should be teaching these topics, plenty of adults don't have the knowledge themselves, so how can they be expected to teach their kids something they don't fully understand? America is $22 trillion in debt.. maybe we could start to change that by teaching students about money and finance before they're old enough to have a credit card.
ps-- if you missed Dave Ramsey on the Bobby Bones Show this morning, you should check it out. Dave is a finance guru with multiple best-selling books on money and getting out of debt. I promise, you'll learn something.