I’m going to ask you a series of questions. Depending on how many you can answer confidently, the content of this article will speak for itself.

How do I cash this paycheck?

Where does this go when I cash it?

How do I create a bank account?

What are the types of bank accounts available?

The most important thing to know about living in this world is finances. Any job available requires you to know financial information. You don’t have to be an accountant or banker to have to know finance.  ​

The answers to these questions are important to know for everyday adult life. However, most teenagers aren’t taught the answers to these questions in high school. That means that when high school students graduate and get hired, they are clueless and stressed about what to do and how to do it when it comes to finance.

“My job was stressful enough and not knowing what to do with my paychecks made everything more chaotic so I just let my parents handle them so I could focus on my job, ” says sophomore Tori Hutchison.

Because of this, students should be taught how to manage finances in high school.

Currently at Derry High School, the courses available regarding finance are Accounting I, II, and III and Business Apps I, II, and III. Accounting teaches students the operations and terms involved in banking and accounting and Business Apps teaches how to operate Word, Powerpoint, and Excel. Although these courses are available, there might be other courses that students want to take that they’re more interested in.

Finance is an important subject in school. Because students might not take one of the courses listed above, I think there should be a required course regarding students learning financial information in life.

The classes available only focus on specifically accounting or business. Although there’s some information useful for everyday finances, I think there should be a course required only for everyday finances because students might not want to go into accounting or entrepreneurship, but every student when they graduate will have to know financial information specifically regarding everyday life.

To gain more knowledge, I asked the current Accounting teacher at Derry Area High School, Mrs. Battaglia, why she thinks it’s important to know financial information during high school.

“Financial literacy is important in today’s world to help people know how to manage their money. Students can benefit from financial literacy with simple knowledge on banking accounts,” Mrs. Battaglia says. “As teenagers join the workforce, they will be getting a paycheck and need to open a bank account to cash their check. It is also important for teenagers to understand how a credit card works so that once they go out into society, they aren’t tempted to get a lot of credit cards and go into debt.”

Even if students aren’t interested in finances, every student is going to graduate and get a job. Whether their job is a lawyer or working at a fast food restaurant, every job requires a paycheck; therefore, finances are involved. Regarding the questions listed above about paychecks, graduated students shouldn’t be left clueless when it comes to a job.

Some students even get jobs during high school. One student, Danielle Dominick, got her first job as a freshman in high school and was clueless as to how the system works.

“I just let my parents handle every paycheck I received because I was so confused and didn’t know what to do with them,” says Dominick.

Adding in the course regarding only the basics of finance and making it a requirement will help every individual student entering high school to prepare for their future. When it comes to making purchases, paying for college, and getting a job, the importance of knowing the basic financial information is vital.