Home Economics Revisited...

[mattl]

Came across an interesting article today that I think is timely.  So many kids and adults and even older folks have no idea how to do basic stuff today that I think a Home Ec class is a great idea.

 

Quick read, but very on point.

Why Home Economics Should Be Mandatory

Forget stereotypes about training girls to be good wives.

www.motherjones.com

 

[arbilab]

So THAT'S where Betty Crackpot came from! We were so gullible in the 50s.

I learned to cook at 18 (1964). I had a fixed budget (college, thanks dad) and the better I managed it the better I could eat (I DO like eating). First two things I remember making were spaghetti sauce and fried chicken. Cook chicken once, freeze in washed TVD trays with frozen bag veggies, eat 4 times for the price of 2 frozen or 1 bought.

50 years later, spaghetti sauce is still my signature dish. Cook once, eat 10 times. Now THAT'S home economy. Nobody had to teach me, I found these truths to be self evident (thanks Jefferson).

OTOH my brother, growing up in the same house with the same cooking mom, can work a propane grill but otherwise can't boil water.

 

[davetranter]

Home Economics

I agree entirely that this should be compulsory in all schools. Less for the 'cookery' aspect than the 'financial management' aspect, though, of course, the one will stem from the other. ;-)
Unfortunately, it is a problem worldwide that educators face a powerful, wealthy, and entrenched opposition in the form of industry at large, which wants our schools to turn out young people with just enough education to be "Good Little Consumers" and/or "Good Little Workers". No-one (except a few 'Luddites' like us) wants to 'empower' the people in any way.

Arbilab... My story is similar.. My brother can't boil water, either. Somehow he isn't troubled by this inadequacy.

All best

Dave T

 

[arbilab]

Brother can't even use Betty Crackpot mixes. Or make a hardboiled egg. Eats everything frozen or prepared/retail. Nope, not the least troubled by this impotency. We have nothing in common but our last name.

Wait 10 years until he's the age I am now. He might wish he knew how I (barely) managed. But it will be too late to ask.

 

[danemodsandy]

I See This....

....All the time in the part of my life that deals with special-needs people. I am not talking about the special-needs people themselves; they have challenges that sometimes prevent them from managing independently.

I'm talking about some of the young people hired as their "staff." Many of them are appallingly close to feral! They cannot do the simplest household tasks or repairs, they have no idea how to cook, they don't see the most obvious dirt or disrepair and they have not a clue why they should be concerned.

Their lives revolve around visits to fast-food joints to get food, calls and texts on their fancy smartphones and payments on their new SUVs. Much of their time is spent complaining about how inadequate their paychecks are when compared to their wants, and they are frequently in turmoil over some utility getting shut off or a threatened repossession of their vehicle, even though they see nothing unreasonable about spending seven or eight bucks a day for their fast-food lunches, more for their fast-food dinners, and way more for their Friday nights at the bar & grill.

In Winter, they run around in thin "hoodies" in 10-below weather - no gloves, no hat. Don't you dare ask them to shovel snow - they say it's too cold (big surprise, given the way they're dressed) and when they do deign to do a little, they're back indoors in two minutes, with the job unfinished.

I do not understand them at all. I make what they do and I have a nicely furnished house, a car that's paid for - if not new - and money in the bank. No one ever calls me about a cutoff or a repossession.

When did not knowing how to take care of yourself become "normal?"

 

[ronhic]

When did not knowing how to take care of yourself become

...normal?

Very good question.

I can only put it down to late baby boomer and early Gen X parents failing to instill values in their children, constantly doing things for them rather than teaching them how to do it themselves and always putting their hands in their pockets for cash rather than instilling 'spend what you earn and save a little' with pocket money.

Chores....what's a chore? I doubt that my 13 year old nephew has every put the bin out and I know that he's never mowed a lawn.

I think our dogs are more domestically savvy than he is!

 

[neptunebob]

Home ec? No, we need football!

Here is an article that talks about a possible reason for all this, there's too much emphasis on team sports:

The Case Against High-School Sports

The United States routinely spends more tax dollars per high-school athlete than per high-school math student—unlike most countries worldwide. And we wonder why we lag in international education rankings?

www.theatlantic.com

 

[davey7]

Interesting. When I lived in Sweden in the 90's, middle school kids had to learn how to do a household budget including designing and building (not literally) a house along with furnishing it and learning how the mortgage would work, etc, all within an average salary level. Seems that the financial literacy is a bit higher there than in the US.

 

[abcomatic]

Home Ec

I taught school for 35 years and was the counselor too, who was responsible for getting kids into the right classes. I always called home ec as home wreck and always got a laugh or two; not from the teacher who taught it however. It was a valuable class and the boys could take bachelor foods, designed to give them basic knowledge of a few basic foods like fried eggs etc. Yes, the football players took it too.