Why We Need A Home Ec. Class

BY: JUDY Y.

Home Ec. or "life skills", is a class everyone should take. When most people think of “Home Ec”, they think of 25 ovens and learning how not to burn pasta. But Home Ec. is more than that. It’s health (in general), personal finance, family resources, planning, consumer science. These are all things that I believe are essential to living the adult life. High school is supposed to prepare us for being on our own in the real world but when was the last time you saw an adult use the quadratic formula?

Maybe it's because I was raised in a traditional “do it yourself” family. If your oil needs changed, save the $20 and do it yourself. Broken button on some jeans? Fix it and don't just throw them out. Home Ec. is going to teach you what to do when you’re on your own.

Let's say you are washing dishes and accidentally cut yourself with a knife. Of course, you’re gonna call 9-1-1 but until they come you’re bleeding and need that to stop or at least slow, so what do you do? Maybe you "Google it". Sure, okay, that's easy but what if there’s no more Google or you haven’t paid the internet bill because you didn't budget correctly and spent your last $100 on something you don't really need.

I can understand why they took Home Ec. out of the schools. I mean, it has to cost a crap ton. But there's an easy solution. 1. Make it an extra curricular so there aren't over a hundred students taking it each year and 2. As most classes do, have a fee that you need to pay in order to take the class. I understand that in today’s world the internet will show you everything and, if not, you can just pay someone to do what you need to be done for you but that’s not so easy for some people.

Speaking from experience, when I need to learn something I actually need a person there walking me through the steps and correcting me if I mess up. I hate to say it but a Youtube video won’t do that. Saying you can learn from a Youtube video is like saying you can learn when the teacher gives you a full packet of new content and it just gives you instructions on how to do said new content.

I can also understand the second standpoint of “just pay someone to do it for you”. We live in a busy world. We’re busy people. But, when you don’t have the money to pay for that service, than what do you do? Do you just go without? You definitely could or you could just take a little time out of your day to get it done yourself and save the extra $50 for your vacation savings. It is a somewhat outdated class but who says we couldn’t revamp it to fit a modern lifestyle? That’s sorta what that class is for, right? Knowing how to be a civilized person in society.