Financing as a school subject: Debbie Juric’s Big Idea

Debbie Juric has a great idea about youth and kids: Prepare kids for the future and reduce the number of people that go into huge debt by educating students about finances, saving, budgeting

Name: Debbie Juric

Issue: Youth and kids: How to make Toronto a better place to raise a family

What’s the big idea: It should be mandatory to have financing as a subject in all public schools and high schools, where kids could learn about saving, purchasing homes, investing, budgeting, etc. Of course the complexity of the material could increase as the grade increases. This would prepare them for the future, help the economy and reduce the number of people that go into huge debt because no one ever taught them how to manage their money. I would also add a mandatory subject of respect for yourself and others that would assist young children and youth in preparing themselves for the future with confidence and coping skills which they might not receive from their parents or guardians. As we know many children are abused and mistreated. Someone has to ingrain in them the fact that they are not powerless and they can achieve anything they set their mind to. The future rests on these children. We can make it a better one with a few small changes that are just logical. A child that is lonely, hungry, abused or bullied cannot perform well in school and often can end up in jail or on the streets. We can do better.

How will the big idea work: Toronto can lead the way for the rest of the country in saving the future for our young people. Let’s show we care about children and families more than we do about corporations and the “way things have always been done”. Let’s be an example for the world.

How much will your big idea cost, and how would it be funded: The great thing is there would not be any extra cost. In high school you could add it as a mandatory class, and therefore subtract an elective, or you can include it in mathematics, but with much more emphasis on the financing and less on advanced mathematics, which most students never use in the future. Finance is an absolute necessity for their future lives.

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In public school the self-esteem classes could be incorporated into physical education which also needs to be mandatory. This class would include acceptance of differences, sexual, physical, lifestyle etc.

How will you implement your big idea: All that is needed is a will from the board of education and the various government bodies. The biggest barrier is the “1% problem” where people at the top are perfectly happy to have the majority of children and their families struggling and believing that they will never succeed.

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