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4050665-60642500Article-Right on the MoneyMore schools are now offering personal finance classes that teach students about managing money.MIAMI, Florida; Every day after school, Phyllis Quach goes to a warehouse brimming with silk flowers, stuffed animals, and various other gift items that her parents sell through their South Florida wholesale company. Helping with the family business allows the 17-year-old to learn valuable lessons about business finance. One such lesson is that a recession, like the one that has gripped the U.S., makes the challenging task of running a business even tougher. Phyllis greeted the challenge as an opportunity, signing up for a class in personal finance. In recent years, an increased number of high schools have started offering such courses—and they have been well received by students.According to the Council for Economic Education, the number of states requiring public high schools to offer a personal finance course rose from 9 to 15 between 2007 and 2009. In fact, 13 of those states have made the course a graduation requirement, up from 7 in 2007. In these classes, students learn about spending and saving money, balancing a budget, and managing credit. They also learn various aspects of purchasing a home, including making a down payment and selecting a loan."[We need to ensure that] students graduate from high school with a better understanding of basic economics, basic finance, and the benefits and risks associated with debt," said U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. The increased focus on teaching personal finance to all high school students is a departure from models of the past. Many schools used to teach the subject as a chapter of a home economics course—if they taught it at all."It was not seen as a necessary life skill," said Jim Hedemark, executive director of Rhode Island Jump Start Coalition, which promotes financial literacy among young people. "It was sort of seen as the kind of thing that should probably be learned in the home. “As a result, many students simply picked up the spending patterns of their parents—good and bad. Meanwhile, personal finance, from maintaining a credit card to purchasing a home, became more complicated. “A good place to start...is the high school level. That's where younger people start to become more financially independent," said Senator Scott Frantz. Frantz is pushing for legislation to require public high school students to learn about the basics of home mortgage lending and the pitfalls of accumulating debt.In some schools, however, lessons in personal finance begin well before high school. John Doyle is an administrator with Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Doyle says that his district's social studies classes have economics lessons at every grade level. In kindergarten, lessons begin with discussing needs versus wants. "You do things that are age-appropriate," Doyle said.Squeezing in a separate personal finance class can be a challenge, however, as schools focus on state and federal testing standards while dealing with budget constraints. As a result, many schools continue to teach personal finance as part of another subject, rather than as a separate course. And as schools opt to incorporate personal finance lessons into their courses, students are grateful to receive such practical information."I wish that every kid that goes through high school had the same opportunity to take this class," said student Yoel Torres, 17. Torres wants to learn to manage the money he makes working at Little Caesars Pizza. Young people's eagerness to learn good money management skills may be a result of the recent recession, which has impacted many families. According to experts, the recession's length and severity could affect students' lifelong financial behavior. It could make them more aware of their financial resources, just as the Great Depression affected their grandparents' and great-grandparents' frugal generation."The students are hungry for this information. They see what is going on in their own home," said John Parfrey of the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE). Parfrey directs the NEFE's financial planning program for high school students. Amy Broekhuizen teaches a high school personal finance class in Michigan. Broekhuizen has also noticed that more teens are eager to learn money management skills. Students frequently ask her about how to start a 401(k) retirement account—something she was not asked about three or four years ago. Today, Broekhuizen teaches personal finance to 180 students, double the number that she taught five years ago. “They’re realizing how important it is to manage their funds," Broekhuizen said.The Associated Press contributed to this story.Dictionaryconstraint?(noun)?? ?something that limits something elsefrugal?(adjective)?? ?spending little in order to save moneyincorporate?(verb)?? ?to include in something that already existsrecession?(noun)?? ?a period during which there is a tremendous slowdown in business activity and a serious decrease in the amount of money earned and spentseverity?(noun)?? ?the seriousness of something ................
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