Raising Citizens Around the Table

By: Arya Palla

The expansive and in-depth curriculum at Exeter provides a plethora of courses to satisfy the intellectual needs of Exonians. However, as Kai Lockwood pointed out in a recent article about science and ethics, students can finish their entire Exeter career without taking essential courses that contribute to their character and morality.

For instance, our school has a comparative lack of civics courses. Knowledge about one’s government and rights is vital to successfully moving through society. As Lockwood noted in their piece, the lack of emphasis on ethics goes against the school's principles of goodness. The absence of civics courses also diminishes Exeter’s ideals—when we don’t provide civic awareness to our students as they explore the legal and administrative crevices of our society, we tarnish our commitment to “knowledge.”

Exeter’s progressive community is filled with students who want to and can cause change. The remarkable individuals who make up the student body have such great potential to affect our society. This echoes itself in our school’s ideals. A lack of apt knowledge about the government and constitutional rights, however, makes it hard to engage with and act on your ideas, be it small-scale or nation-wide. 

There are still more areas for curricular growth. Becoming financially independent is one of the biggest changes to someone’s life when they leave high school. Whether you are fully financially independent or relying on a friend or family, the ability to manipulate and increase your wealth is vital to progress in our nation. Many students nationwide have voiced concerns about the lack of financial education, which leads many to poor economic decisions. The interconnectedness of economics and government, as well as its extensive influence on young adults across the country, bolsters the need for financial education courses at Exeter.

Now, of course, the school does have a couple of courses that cover the principles of economics and its governmental ties, but this is certainly not enough for students to develop a comprehensive understanding on how to handle their own money or contribute to society through their civic duties. 

That’s not the point of the economics courses—they are designed to teach the theories of economics, not their practical applications. There is not a requirement to enroll in classes that might cover these topics. The courses are there for those who have an interest in such topics, but they aren’t required and don’t deal with the type of financial education needed. 

Simply put, Exeter should make certain courses in economics and government required. Unfortunately, student enrollment in civics courses (and subsequently, young adult civic engagement) has sharply dropped over the last decade in schools across America. Exeter should not buoy that trend. But, more than that, we have to plan what specifically should be required.

Debt is one of the basic tenets of economics that directly applies to young adults entering college. Not only does debt manifest in student loans after university. It also manifests in the forms of real estate, auto insurance and many other goods and services that adults tend to purchase later on in life. As a crushing force in many people’s lives, the ability to handle debt and handle investments (with a rational mindset and proper foreshadowing, of course) can provide real tangible benefits to young people and help them learn to handle or prevent future struggles. 

Taxes are another basic economic principle on which adolescents are rarely educated. Like debt, taxes can be a frustration and burden to newly financially-independent students. They can be an economically repressive force in the beginning, just like debt, and students need to be prepared to deal with the financial consequences of daily life. Preparation for taxes should occur in more than senior health.

Civic and financial education allow for civic and financial participation. Together, they turn the wheels of our society and democracy and allow everyone to make a difference in their own world. That is, essentially, the goal of our school: to prepare and shape our students to create constructive change that reflects their knowledge and goodness. If Exeter required courses in financial preparation and civics, it would be instrumental in fulfilling this prospect.