Entrepreneurship classes should be mandatory in K-12 to combat teacher bias. | Hacker News Reader

Entrepreneurship classes should be mandatory in K-12 to combat teacher bias.

3 pointsamichail7 comments

K-12 teachers often focus on academic achievement. But that is entirely the wrong thing to focus on. What ultimately matters most in life is how much money you make, not your academic credentials nor your IQ.

And so it seems that entrepreneurship classes should be made mandatory in K-12 to combat this teacher bias.

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How would one teach an "entrepreneurship class?"

I do agree that there needs to be much more training on financial matters, including the matters that make a business run in the K-12 level.

On the other hand, a basic level of education is needed to succeed financially. Remember, 80% of billionaires went to college: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=551121 A large number of millionaires went to college: http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/rip-offs/10-things-millio...

What matters in life is different for everyone. For example, some might believe what really matters is what you've done to make the world a better place.

On another note, academic achievement != academic credentials, or IQ. Academic achievement == learning, ability, effort. Schools aren't a perfect vehicle for this, but I'd much rather improve what we have than throw it all out to focus our students on how to make money.

Thought experiment: Would it be more or less difficult for a student to become wealthy if everyone was taught how? How does this compare to mathematics?

"What ultimately matters most in life is how much money you make..."

Interesting value judgment there.

The vast majority of students in K-12 public schools aren't going to be headed into jobs where entrepreneurship is an option, let alone important. Far more useful would be basic home-econ, as most people will end up using that in their day-to-day lives.

The vast majority of students won't end up being physicists either.

True. But physics (and particularly the entry-level physics that's taught in elementary through high school) includes a lot of easily applicable general knowledge, and sets students up for a lot of other topics later on.

I don't think you could say the same thing about entrepreneurship. It's not a building block of a subject in the same way that physics is.

Please, no! There is no way to turn most students off on a subject more effectively than to make it mandatory.

EDIT: Plus, most of the information given would probably be wrong.

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