The financial club meets every Tuesday and Wednesday after school from 4:00-5:00pm. This club helps Preuss students learn how to handle their money in a responsible and helpful way; the club has monthly topics that they cover to help learn about dealing with financial situations in their present and future lives. Although this club is a great resource, it would be even more helpful if there was a finance class that was an elective for Preuss students. 

Once students grow up and leave high school they will then need to get a job to stay financially stable. Many students might think they know how finance works but haven’t learned what to do with money or credit. Not knowing about how to take care of money or what credit is will cause them to have trouble with money in the future. There are many high school students who can also start dealing with credit and debit cards. Teens 13 and older can have a debit card under their name and most students get a credit card around the age of 17 or 18. Many know how to use a credit or debit card with the help of their parents who teach and guide them, but other people might have parents who would refuse to teach their child about credit cards.

Financial class is already making an appearance in schools because in more than half the states it is required for schools to offer a personal financial class for students. According to Tony Thurmond in an article from the California Department of Education “Only 27% of California high school students attend schools that offer personal finance classes.” Even though the schools have to offer the class it is not a graduation requirement so there are many students that aren’t getting the necessary education on what they need to know about money. 

Preuss should have a class that has all its focus on teaching students about financial topics and being able to maintain financial stability can help those who may not even finish high school. I’ve known many adults who will tell me about their past experience in high school and how being ignorant about money has negatively affected them once they moved onto college. They wanted to learn about checking accounts, credit scores, rent, and savings.   Having a whole class dedicated to finance would help so many students avoid big money problems in their future such as debt, excessive spending, and bad credit score.