OK, so I've got a little dissin about my Home ECONOMICS question, during the previous Mike Huckabee Blogger calls. I prefer to call Home Ec Home Survival. It is more than just making toast. Home Economics teaches about how to survive in the grown up world. All Americans need to eat and be clothed. Unfortunately, not all Americans have a roof over their heads.
Not everyone can afford to eat at Red Lobster every day. Not everyone can afford to buy Tommy Hilfiger jeans. Not everyone can afford to shop at Macy's. Not everyone can afford a Rolex.
Some people have to live on a tight budget. Some people don't know what a family vacation is. Some people wonder where their next meal is coming from. Some people have to work two jobs to put a meal on the table. Some kids still wear hand-me downs to school.
This is where a basic home-ec education comes into play. Home-ec used to teach about healthy nutrition, use what you've got in your cupboard, basic sewing. Also it taught how to budget for rent or mortgage, groceries, clothing, utilities and saving for a rainy day in case your home or appliances need repairs. If ya have enough money after that ya can go on vacation or buy something frivolous.
I would like to talk about some people I have talked to about this issue. One, I have a friend who is a high school English teacher. She was saying that at the local high school the only thing the students, girls, do in class is make a cheesecake from a boxed kit. The sewing is making a throw pillow. This happens during a full semester. This is my tax dollars at work. How is knowing how to make a boxed cheesecake gonna help them when they are out living on their own without mom to cook for them? How is making a throw pillow gonna help them in the real world when they find themselves needing clothes and they can't afford to buy new ones? When she first started working at the school, back in the seventies, girls would make their own jeans and even Prom dresses in class. They would learn how to make full nutritious meals.
In my state of Michigan former beauty queen Governor Jennifer Granholm wants to give ipods to all high school students. That's nice. Michigan has the highest unemployment rate in the country, 7.1% and she wants to waste my money on that. Listening to music on an ipod is not music education. I am all for music education, but like band and/or choir so they learn about playing an instrument and/or voice range. Ipods don't teach that.
I was talking to a woman who was a Home-Ec major in college about how ridiculous this ipod idea is. She was saying that teenagers need to learn about things that will help them in the real world.
I was talking to a MAN about the ipod thing also. I said if the Governor wants to pay for expensive items for the kids to use in schools they should hand out sewing machines for girls and tool kits for boys. Wood shop and Metal Working classes are also curriculum's that are also going to the wayside. He said that the liberals are afraid that the boys might get their hands dirty or get a cut on their fingers. He said he took shop class and it was a great help to him. One of the reasons homes in poor neighborhoods get dilapidated is not because the homeowner is lazy. It is because they can't afford to have get the repairs done. Maybe they can afford to pay for the materials, but then the labor can be twice as much. If the homeowner had knowledge how to fix home repairs they could get things done. Again this is something that I would love to have asked the Mike Huckabee about. But I guess he wouldn't want to answer a question about making bird houses and ashtrays, according to some people.
If schools would bring back Home Survival classes there may be less Americans living in piles of debt. There would be less hungry kids going to school without breakfast. Less American adults and children would be obese. There would be less spoiled children trying to grow up to be like Britney or Paris and desiring material items. Parents would not give into their kids whim.
Both Home ECONOMICS and Shop classes should be considered Home Survival classes. And both boys and girls should have a basic knowledge of both. Most people don't get married out of high school. So, men should learn how to cook a basic breakfast, lunch and dinner. Women should at least know how to use a hammer and nail for more than just hanging a picture. My dad is a general contractor. I have worked for him and learned a lot regarding basic home fix ups.
I think kids from all economic levels should learn about these basics. When people have these basic knowledges they can learn to help others when they find themselves in dire situations. But I guess I am being too archaic to think Americans should be more self sufficient and help others in need. The problem is our society just wants to throw money at problems without teaching people how to help themselves. Jesus himself that if ya give a man a fish he eats for a day, if you teach him how to fish he eats for a life time.
God Bless from the Upper Peninsula in Michigan!
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