Should Home Economics be mandatory in school for boys and girls in schools?
By ronnyb
@ronnyb (6113)
Jamaica
December 16, 2009 12:28pm CST
This discussion was inspired by a discussion by a fellow mylotter who was asking if you knew how to sew.It got me thinking that back in high school I did a course called home economics which taught both boys and girls who to function in the home by teaching them things like basic cooking ,cleaning and sewing.
No back then many boys didnt want to do those subjects because they thought succh subjects made them look soft .Now this kind of culture is something that is embraced by many parents who will allow the girls to help in the home while the boys play .
Consequently I am asking you if you think that school shoul dmake home economics mandatory in an attempt to make students ready for managing their homes ? Or do you think that only mathematics English and Science are relevant because you can hire a maid ?
8 people like this
20 responses
@LadyMarissa (12148)
• United States
17 Dec 09
Not only do I think Home Economics should be mandatory, I also think Shop should be mandatory!!! In this day & time I believe young ladies should be taught the basics of how to fix things as well as cook & sew. Back in the good old days the boys WERE allowed to go out & play while the girls learned how to cook & sew. On the other side of the fence, the girls were allowed to go out & play while the boys learned how to use a hammer & saw and fix a car. Personally, I think ALL the above is important to BOTH sexes!!!
1 person likes this
@kprofgames (3091)
• United States
18 Dec 09
Well said! I can't tell you how hard it is to break into wanting to do something for yourself and then don't have the right tools, knowledge, on how to do it. I know the local Menards store has classes you can take for home repairs and things but people shouldn't just rely on others because it's considered the 'other sexs' job to know it.
I've turned enough screwdrivers in my time to know that if I had known it the easy way first instead of trial and error method, I'd have gotten more done and less expensively too.
@starsailover (7829)
• Mexico
17 Dec 09
Hi Lady Marissa: I totally agree with you. Actually, our societies have changed their point of views, thank God for that! and people finally understand that, there is not an activity only for boys or girls. You can do whatever you want if you have the qualities to do them. In the other hand, i have find some girls that are like: i am an independent woman, i will not learn how to cook, i won't get marry for cooking or doing home jobs. So I think, and what about the mutual help a marriage should have. It's not fair that, wifes always cook because when you are in a marriage you have to work TOGETHER. I know this since i was a kid because my parents they both cook, my dad usually cooks for us for the weekends and everything is nice. Thanks for your answer. Have a nice day.
-Alvaro.
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
16 Dec 09
I think it would be a very good idea if home ec was a required sunbect for both. Nowadays so many girls are not taught to cook by their moms [my dil is a perfect exampe]which i think is a crying shame. Boys need to know how to do things around the house to. Most guys are going to live by themselves before they get married so who is going to cook if they can't??
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
22 Dec 09
I think that schools should make something mandatory along the lines of a life skills course. Teach budgeting and some basic things like credit good/bad...cooking, some home repairs, rather than calling it home ec or shop. Things that kids will actually use when they get into the real world. Some basic automobile care
I know i moved out of my parents place and i had no clue who or what to arrange it was a oh i need to call about power its not just...there?
@maygodblessu44 (7336)
• India
5 Jan 10
Hello my friend ronnyb Ji,
In our country, we have a subject exclusively for Girls called 'HOME-SCIENCE', where basically cooking/ebrodary/sewing used to be taught. But, at this age, I think, it should be made cumpulsory even to boys, as women have taken over lot many jobs from men, so let both be taught and never look for maid-servants. In my case, my hubby may not know knitting swetors, but hedoest know cooking/maintaining house-holds.
Wishing you a very happy New Year-2010.
May God bless You and have a great time.
@anniefannie (1737)
• United States
16 Dec 09
i know it would not hurt the boys to take home ec.i don't know about making it manuatory.my son cooked and he cleaned and done washing of his cloths because you don't always have someone to does these things. i tried to teach him how to make it on his own just as i did my daughter.
@soledadclickz (1106)
• Philippines
16 Dec 09
Hi. Here in the Philippines, we have a number of units in elementary and high school about home economics. Based on experience, we were taught the basics of home activities like sewing, cooking, carpentry, farming, drafting and the likes.
@annjilena (5618)
• United States
18 Dec 09
i think this is neccessary both will need to know how to care for themself,cooking,repairing clothes and such.those days are gone where the women does everything.men don,t need a women,and women don,t need a man to cook their meals.some mens can run a house as good as women.so it depend in a relationship who likes to do what.this is a good subject.
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
17 Dec 09
Of course managing the kitchen is an important part of life, and even more so is managing your diet. Obesity is ballooning the kids of the world, mainly because of their parents ignorance of proper diet. Poverty is often blamed, but a good diet can cost less than Fast Food. Fast Food is poisoning our kids, endangering their health, and adding billions of dollars to Health Care Costs, just because their parents are either too lazy, or don't know how to prepare healthy food in the kitchen.
@jpso138 (7851)
• Philippines
17 Dec 09
Well, I am from the Philippines and I think by now you already know that its part of our elementary and high school subjects. Well, in my own opinion, I do agree that home economics should be part of the school program. There were so many things that I have learned from it that have been very useful up until now. So I definitely agree that it should be part of the school program. There are many subject that we may not find interesting as during the time that we started with school. But as we grow, we realized that they do have some importance and they are indeed very useful.
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
19 Dec 09
I learned a lot from T.H.E, thats what we call it before. Thats how I really learned a lot of the basic home stuffs. Boys tended the garden before. I guess yes THE should be both for boys and girls. aside from the fact that gender is totally out of it now, I think both boys and girls should learn the trade whether or not the task seems appropriate for the other gender. What should be assessed however is the intensity of the task. Can a boy handle it? Can a girl too?
@audrey7 (232)
• Jamaica
22 Dec 09
This is a timely question but I do not think you have to use the term mandatory. With the new trend in hospitality industry both boys and girls make choices for home economies. The tourist sector is another reason for students doing these subjects. Gone are the days when one think only of only sciences or the arts being relevant because you can hire a maid. The term maid is not even used again.
Technology and change in ocupations have cause both students and parents to make changes in their mind set so these subjects do not have to be mandatory again; although there are still some with some hang up about same.
@kprofgames (3091)
• United States
18 Dec 09
Hello Ronnyb. Here we have a mandatory class for those entering their freshman year. It is home economics, they call it Family Consumer Sceince now. My boy is 16 and he loves that class. He is a sophomore now and he's elected to continue taking that class up till he is a senior in high school.
I don't think it makes a person 'soft' to want to learn more of the managing of a household. There are sewing units that he is less than impressed with, but there are some great communication skills and teachings of the family unit that he enjoys. I know he thinks it is an easy class, but since we are a pretty tight family he enjoys learning more of the communicatication and looking more into what it really takes to raise a family.
@starsailover (7829)
• Mexico
17 Dec 09
Hi ronnyb: I understand what you are thinking and i have found that there are many boys and girls that don't even know how to manage their homes so, when they get married their just a disaster. Unless you are a millionaire so you will never have to worried about anything at homem i think that every person should know how to do these things and it's actually a good experience. I think that, these are not humiliating jobs as some people think and even if you are a professional you sometimes have to do these things so why not. Thanks for starting this topic i think about it as a nice idea. Have a nice day.
-Alvaro.
@magicalart (75)
• United States
17 Dec 09
I think it should be mandatory. I'm surprised at the number of adults who can't cook anything that doesn't come out of a box or package. Basic understanding of baking, cooking, carpentry, electic, and plumbing should be a must. I also think that kids should be taught basic money management, including how to balance a check book. One thing that I think I lacked in school was the basic know-how of voting. I was afraid to vote for years because I didn't know where to go or what to do. Just these basic skills would be helpful to our future generation.
@sarahruthbeth22 (43143)
• United States
16 Dec 09
Well if it were mandatory for me to pass Home Ec I wouldn't have graduated! I wouldn't take it .I rather take another math course. Should it be mandatory these days? I don't think so. They are pulling music out of schools and Just teaching to the test.I don't see any school making Home Ec mandatory.The only way they would consider it if there were home ec questions on the test.
@stephcjh (38473)
• United States
17 Dec 09
Yes. I think it should be offered as a class in school. Students need to know all kinds of things so they can be prepared when they get out in the real world. They cannot always rely on their parents to teach them.
@gitfiddleplayer (10362)
• United States
17 Dec 09
Yes!!!! They should teach both sexes home economics, and that doesn't mean the basics either. I mean go into running a household, budgeting, money, having kids, raising them, rearing them and saving for their college. Of course you would need parents to teach this class, a single teacher would not know how.
@paula27661 (15811)
• Australia
17 Dec 09
Not everybody is going to be in a position to hire a maid. I did home economics in high school way back in the dark ages! As far as I can remember, and it was a long time ago, it was a compulsory subject. I may be wrong but I don’t recall having the choice whether to do cooking and sewing as a subject. Of course that may all have changed these days! I do think that home economics should be something everybody should learn at school because they are basic skills that every individual, male or female is going to need in life from the minute they leave the parental home.
@xJaiiDK (163)
• Philippines
17 Dec 09
Hmm, maybe yes. It should be included to their subjects today. It will surely help them a lot when they grow up and when they go live themselves. I think Logarithm or knowing what is noun, pronoun or dangling modifier wont help them cook their food. my point is, you can include it with their present subjects. These kids will surely benefit from it one day.
