Should high schools require Adulting 101?

 By Phoebe Cunningham

    Are students being left in the dark about how to dive into adulting? At FHS, there are many different electives that students can take, such as personal finance and an abundance of math classes, but some teachers believe that a class in finances should be mandatory. When asked in a survey about their views of personal finance and whether it should be mandatory at FHS, Mrs. Fox and Mrs. Santini agreed that a finance class should be mandatory for upperclassmen, in addition to the seminar classes for 9th and 10th graders. Both of these teachers did not have a finance class offered when they were in high school, but they wish that it would have been offered because they found themselves confused when it came to life insurance, retirement planning, and buying a house. 
   When asked if they believe that students, specifically at Freedom, have a good understanding of how to manage money in their adult lives, both Mrs. Fox and Mrs. Santini were united in their opinion that most students are not prepared, especially if they do not enroll in schooling after high school. Senior student Allison Makula says that she does not feel prepared to pay taxes and bills after she graduates.
    There are some schools across the country that do require financial based courses such as Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, Iowa, and Utah. However, most schools incorporate that into their freshman and sophomore seminar classes. Based on the opinions of Mrs. Fox and Mrs. Santini, high school students should be more prepared when they are launched into adulting. Do you think that you are prepared to pay taxes, manage money, buy a house, and to retire? At 16, most students can say that they probably are not. However, a class that focuses on these subjects might make students more prepared.