Teaching Them

As a teacher I feel like it’s important to teach my kids fiscal responsibility. I don’t teach math or anything like that (I’m actually a Health teacher) but you know, I want them to graduate and be in good shape to live like adults when they’re older. When I got to college I realized I didn’t have any real world skills I didn’t know how to balance a checkbook, I didn’t know what a CD was and I sure didn’t know what kind of retirement investing to do. These are some of the things I talk to my kids about in class and they thank me for it…the ones that don’t thank me yet sure will later! Lately we’ve been discussing what it takes to own your own home because all of them obviously live with their parents and don’t have a clue what it means to take on that kind of responsibility. I’ve been showing them some of the recent tax law changes here in Texas for new homeowners and I made them all go to www.electriccompaniesindallas.com the other day so they could see how energy is priced. I just want them to know what to expect when they get out of college and find a job or even know how much money they could save by moving back in with their parents, too! I think it’s totally great that so many of their parents have bought them everything and totally made their lives easy but the kids in my class that don’t have jobs are going to be in for a world of hurt when they hit the real job market. They don’t know what it’s like to go to class for hours then work an 8-hour shift they’ll find out soon enough and I think that along with teaching them health it’s also my job to make sure they know about what it means to be a successful adult.