Finance Management by Jennifer

Finance Management by Jennifer - August 2015 Scholarship Essay

Debt is killing our country. We need to teach the children of the United States of America the importance of Finance Management. If we as adults were taught how to handle our money in a responsible way from the time we were in high school, or even before, can you even imagine where our country would be now? If we were to teach our children Finance Management, there would be way less debt, which in turn would create less stress, which would then lead to a happier and healthier nation.

I believe that the foundation of a nation starts with the education of children. High school is the last place where children are taught before being released out into the world on their own. If we were to teach teenagers the importance of financial safety in their own lives, they could then go on to manage and run companies, and this country, with those same standards. As it is, we teach them little to nothing about financial security. Instead, they go off to college and try to figure out money matters on their own. With the exception of the few who want to go into the financial world and actually take classes on the matter in college, most college age kids can only learn about finances from getting credit cards or high interest cars and loans. They then default on, or are trying to pay off that debt for the majority of the rest of their lives.

If we were to instead, teach these young adults how to manage their money, then they would be enabled to make wiser decisions in their lives. Most people say that their hardest years are their 20’s. Why? Because that is when you have to make all of the big decisions in your life and figure out what you want to make of yourself. Instead of having to worry about financial issues, imagine that they could put all of that stress into the building and growing of our nation. They would know how to manage everything from their check register to their bank accounts, to buying a car, a house, or a business. Our nation needs to build revenue. How can we do that? By creating jobs for people to work, so that they can have money, to then put it back into their city, state, and country. How do we create jobs? We create jobs by teaching children how to manage their money, and become productive business men and women. So many young adults have wonderful visions of new and innovative companies and ideas. Sadly, these individuals lack the understanding of how to turn their visions and dreams into reality and start their own companies. We are doing a disservice to the young people of this nation by not providing them a solid and well-rounded education on finances. By learning how to manage their finances, we would be enabling young adults to become better citizens of this nation.

In addition to Finance Management helping the children of our nation be prepared to be business men and women in their young adult lives, I believe that this class would aid in lowering the suicide and crime rates in our nation. Having financial chaos in our lives can create tension and stress that can lead anyone to make irrational and unwise decisions in their life. Having the ability to wisely make financial decisions, would help young adults to have a peace in at least one area of their lives. They would be able to then focus on the other decisions and questions that are inevitable in the college and post college years.
If this one class of Finance Management were put in place in all of the high schools in the United States, I believe that we would not only see more peace, but we would see our nation start to thrive within its own bounds, and even with foreign relations. It would also help our nation as a whole to be free to focus on greater and bigger issues in our world. This is why I believe that it is imperative that we implement a Finance Management class into the entirety of our high schools in the United States of America.