Hannah Hubley English 111 October 30, 2013 Home Economics in Middle Schools Home Ec: everyones favorite

e class in the sixth grade. You could make a lot of good food and maybe even learn how to work a sewing machine. This class has been taken out of many middle schools; this is not only taking away many students favorite class, but also taking away their opportunities to learn every day home and social skills. We can expect our kids to be ready for college in academia, but we no longer can expect them to cook their own food or even keep a house tidy. Home economics, although viewed as a blow off class, can have a huge impact on students throughout their lives. In this paper I will be discussing four major reasons why home economics should be put back into middle schools. 1) Home economics assist and encourage students to live independently. 2) Home economics teach students to budget and also to have common sense. 3) Home economics could help obesity in children and childrens overall health. 4) We can update the curriculum of home economics to fit modern students realities. Although older home economics curriculum taught generations of students useful knowledge, we need to update the lessons and reinstate them into middle schools so that the content reflects modern students realities. What is home economics or family and consumer sciences class? According to Yvonne Gentzler in her article in the Phi Kappa Forum, Home economics, from its earliest incarnations

to its current concerns, critiques the social scene and applies principles from the sciences, such as chemistry, economics and psychology, to improve the quality of life of individuals, advance the welfare of communities, and, ultimately, ensure social justice for all (5). To further improve the quality of life of individuals, home economics curriculum can be developed to fit modern societal needs. Family and consumer sciences teach a necessary part of every students life that many students cannot receive from their parents. It not only teaches students home keeping skills, but also life skills. When students are working together and learning amongst one another they are earning valuable experiences that they cannot receive in other classes. Home economics was taken out of many secondary schools in the past twenty years. Why is this happening? Many schools have gone through budget cuts which resulted in the loss of home economics and family and consumer science courses. This is a grave mistake made by many school boards. Although the consequences of this action will not be seen until about ten years later, it will come. The most unfortunate thing is that it will be worse for the kids who did not receive the education. Once they are out of high school and living on their own, most of them will be lost. Many of these students parents do not take the time to teach these things to their children. Without this vital knowledge young adults will end up not knowing what to cook or how; this potentially leads to the obesity rates in Americas youth. Another reason family and consumer sciences were removed from secondary schools is because schools now are focused mainly on college and career paths. As said by Michael Rupured in his article, Goodbye Home Economics, Students will no longer be able to take family and consumer sciences course such as bachelor living and others that provide basic information about cooking, managing finances, parenting, home furnishings, and other skills needed to function in the world as adults Instead of this, students will be expected to choose a

college or career path that they would like to pursue by the eighth grade. This shift in education has totally changed students view on the simple things. Most children do not believe in making a meal from scratch, sewing on a button when it falls off, or even budgeting their money. This causes students who hadnt even considered college an option to be very underequipped for the future. Something schools have tried to do in order to supplement the loss of home economics is trying to combine it with other subjects such as physical education or health. The simple truth of this is that most teachers do not know how or simply will not teach the curriculum. If physical education is mandatory to students, why arent home economics? They are both teaching nutrition and overall health, but they take different paths. Home economics focuses more on social and mental health while physical education focuses more on physical health. Home economics is just as important as P.E.; there is no reason for one to be taught more than the other. Each class teaches and encourages students to live happy, healthy lives, but without home economics these students are being deprived of useful knowledge on how to cook nutritious food to keep them healthy. The last major reason that home economics was taken out of schools is to make way for the Spanish program. In an interview with a past home economics teacher, Dayna Stump, she said her job was terminated because of the introduction of Spanish classes (Stump). The main thing that is wrong with this is that most high schools offer three to five different language options for students. Not all students will take Spanish. Forcing students to take only a total of six weeks a year of Spanish in middle school wont help them. Also, when the students abandon learning Spanish in high school, learning a few common Spanish words is pointless for them. Which do you use more on an everyday basis, cooking, building relationships, and basic home

making skills, or speaking Spanish? For most people it is the first. A good resolution to this is have both options in the middle school, Spanish for those taking it in high school and home economics for those who arent. Many people say that home economics is a class for girls and no boy will want to take it. After being asked how boys reacted to her home economics class Dayna Stump said, Boys acted the same in many ways as girls. All of my students were very excited to learn and very enthusiastic about the curriculum. That is the main reason I loved teaching it [home economics] (Stump). Also, there are rumors and sayings that family and consumer sciences pressures young women to stay at home and be a housewife instead of going a pursuing a career. This is wrong in many ways. According to Ted Boscia, the popular analysis is that family and consumer sciences programs only purpose is to hold women back by reaffirming gender norms, but the truth is much more complicated. Home economics is empowering for women and it leads them to professional careers and the ability to change their lives (19). Living independently is a staple of home economics education. The hopes of home economics educators is that after students receive their teaching they will be able to live on their own safely and happily. The curriculum covers almost all aspects of bachelor living, including what we could update to suit todays needs. Cooking, cleaning, sewing, mending, budgeting, building relationships, building families, eating healthily, and handling money: all parts of home economics education. If students knew even the basics of these subjects it would give them a great start to living on their own. Also, the way that home economics is taught promotes the lessons to stick. For example, most kids will remember the time they made a healthy pizza from scratch with their classmates rather than reading from a textbook. They will retain the information for later use when they are living alone.

Another huge task young adults face is handling their money. At age sixteen many students start to secure jobs and make money. If students dont have guidance from their parents many would spend it all in a heartbeat. This topic could be covered in home economics classrooms. Past home economics curriculum goes into budgeting and money handling, but diving in deeper to these subjects could reap many benefits for students. Teaching banking and taxes would help many students be prepared for the future. This will increase students knowledge of money and how the economy works in general. Learning how to budget and save their money will assist teens in being more prepared for college and the real world. Another thing students could use is common sense. Sure many students know all six trigonometric ratios and where to use a semicolon, which is helpful, but more students dont know common things like how to be polite or not to put metal in microwaves. One may say that this is a lot to cover in one class, but many of the home economics standards fit and blend together. Common sense is something that should be added to family and consumer science education. Middle aged and elderly people often question the common sense of younger generations, perhaps if some aspects of it were taught in schools students could make better choices. A lot of people say that common sense is something one just has; it should not have to be taught to people. Looking at the choices some people make forces us to think otherwise. If simple things like common sense were taught in middle school it could not only save many people a lot of headaches, but perhaps even lives as well. A huge part of our lives is food. Food is essential for physiological development, and contributes to psychological wellbeing and social and interpersonal relationships (Curriculum Corp. 84). Family and consumer sciences standards focus around food nutrition, production, and preparation. Studies show that students who know how healthy and unhealthy foods affect your

body will be more likely to make healthier food choices for themselves. A part of that is actually knowing how to cook the food. This is where home economics comes in. Not only does home economics teach the students how to prepare different food dishes, it also informs them on different cultures and varieties of food. With that being said, students who take family and consumer sciences have more knowledge on food preparation and on culture as a whole. Knowing how to cook and prepare healthy food dishes goes farther than just eating healthily. As everyone knows, children and young adult obesity is a huge issue today. If students know how to prepare healthy meals for themselves this could lead to a decrease in children and young adult obesity. Students could go on to teach their siblings and maybe even their parents on how to cook beneficial meals. According to Yen Li Chu, a post-doctoral from the School of Public Health, getting kids involved in meal preparation could be an effective health promotion strategy for schools and parents (Science Daily). As stated previously, there are many things that schools could add and update in home economics curriculum. Some updates that would be beneficial for students would be: technology and not abusing it; drug and alcohol safety; sex and STD safety; money handling, internet safety; common sense; shopping; decision making; and taxes and banking. Almost all students take classes where they wonder: when and how will I ever use this? Family and consumer sciences will not be one of those classes. Family and consumer sciences could be a class where all of the things you should have learned in school are taught. These things should also be taught in fun ways so that the students wont realize what they are learning. Most home economic teachers already do a good job of this, but with difficult things such as taxes and banking, it would be difficult to make things memorable. For example, a project could be for students to plan a pizza party for themselves and friends. They would have to supply the food, drinks, invitations, and

decorations. This teaches several different things: planning, goal setting, shopping, decision making, and also social skills. The students think they are going on the internet to plan a party and get pizza, but the lessons go much deeper than that. As you can see, with the updates and teaching techniques described in this paper home economics would be a very helpful and successful class for students. Past home economics or family and consumer science curriculum benefitted students in a variety of ways, but updating the standards and techniques will prepare students to live independently, to properly handle money, and to live a healthier life. Home economics needs to be put back into middle schools to provide students opportunities to better their life. Students need these classes. Put home-ec back into middle schools.