I was at my local supermarket the other day, and I saw my librarian from elementary school. I was surprised I recognized her, but even more surprised that she recognized me. I believe her name was Mrs. Olsen, but I'm not sure. She taught us things like the difference between fiction and non-fiction, and the
Dewey Decimal System. I remember these things. I marveled at how crazy it is that I remember these things after such a long time. Then I started to wonder why we aren't taught other things in school that would actually be really useful in our daily lives. The main thing that came to my mind is finances. Why don't we ever learn in school how to take care of our money and make it grow, or how to balance a check book, or invest in IRA's or CD's? Don't get me wrong, the Dewey Decimal System is important, but I'd really much rather know how to successfully invest in real estate, or learn what investments provide the greatest tax breaks. How do we go about changing the curriculum so our children don't have to suffer through the financial woes that my generation has fallen victim to? With all the bankruptcies and enormous amounts of debt that everyone seems to be accumulating, I think that such courses would not only be the prudent thing to do, but in due course will be a necessary step to take to survive this world where it's so easy to fall into these holes. Why can't we learn to avoid them altogether instead of only learning to climb out once we are in over our heads?