Basic Education

Learning and the learner are at the heart of lifelong learning, itself a cyclical, episodic and continuous concept that involves both intended and unanticipated episodes of learning of both informal and formal nature. Basic education is a part of lifelong learning. The importance of valuing the learners' experiences in order to create both the curriculum and opportunities for learning is paramount: education for all as well as for all. Participation in learning builds self-confidence, citizenship and autonomy.

Basic Education is the compulsory and free formal and informal fundamental training or knowledge, skills and experiences that all children under school going age needs to acquire, from preschool to Junior High School. In other words, is the prerequisite to further education. The compulsory and free nature of Basic Education comes in, when all rules and regulations are well adhered to.

Throughout the world, the trend is towards the development of free market economies and globalization; this is accompanied by an awareness of the importance of education and training. For most of our countries, common characteristics include declining demographic trends. This in turn increases the importance of the quality of education, be it for children, youth or adults of all ages, and the need for education throughout life.

The foundation of basic education begins at birth. Early childhood education and care must be holistic and integrated to ensure the survival, growth and development of young child. In particular, more attention should be paid to young children under 3 years old, children in difficult and emergent situations and in rural areas for their participation in and access to quality early childhood programs.

The primary child caretakers are parents, and the family and community environment plays an important role. In this regard, an effort to link early childhood education and care with adult education deserves attention. The learning that parents and grandparents do enhances the learning that children do. In turn, the success or failure of learning at school has an impact on how adults learn later on in their lives. The vision, provision, policy and system of early childhood education and care can vary across countries, but there is a growing consensus that some form of early childhood programs focusing on the child's holistic development is essential to favour the social, psychological, affective and cognitive development of the young child.

EDUCATION

Most of the time when we talk about Education, we think about school. We often view school in a traditional, formal sense. Many people think that  learning can only take place in a formal school and classroom setting. Others feel education occurs in many different forms and environments. There may not be a definitive answer to the question of, ‘What is Education?’ However, we can start thinking about the purpose of education. Is it to educate youth to be responsible citizens? Is it to develop individuals, as well as society, in order to ensure a society’s economic success? Or is the purpose of education to simply focus on developing individual talents and intelligence? Perhaps it is the balance of all three that defines education? While our answers may differ, we can perhaps agree that education is a basic human right. When that right is granted growth and development, the society as a whole is more likely to improve in areas such as health, nutrition, general income and living standards and population fertility rates.

The information in this section will make you to think about some very important issues surrounding the topic of education. As global citizens of the world it is our responsibility to critically think about these issues and attempt to come up with solutions to the problems plaguing education. In 1990 UNESCO launched EFA, the movement to provide quality education for all children, youth, and adults by the year 2015. Twenty two years later much progress still needs to be made if we are to achieve the goal for 2015. . How can we achieve the goals of EFA when numerous countries around the world are faced with challenges that seem far too impossible to overcome?

The answer lies in attempting to bridge some of the gaps that prevent developing nations to compete with developed nations. One example is that of providing greater access to technology and narrowing the ever widening digital divide. In many ways the most basic access to technology can serve as a valuable educational tool. Individuals who are not afforded this access are at a disadvantage when trying to grasp opportunities to make life better for themselves, their families, and their community.

Another issue that poses a barrier to widespread development is that of literacy. There still remains a rather larger percentage of illiterate youth and adults in many nations around the world. Economic difficulty and lack of education get in the way of decreasing illiteracy rates. As you will learn in the following sections, literacy is no longer simply limited to reading and writing. 

There are many different capacities in which an individual living in the twenty-first century can be literate. Helping to strengthen skills in other areas, can still help to make progress on sustaining the development of a nation, as well as achieve gender equality. The gender gap in education points to the fact that females are still not afforded the same opportunities as males. In many parts of the world cultures see no value in educating females. Two of the eight Millennium Development Goals, achieving universal primary education and promoting gender equality, seek to close the gaps that exist in the education around the world. If we can make some advancement on achieving these goals, we can further the progress on the remaining six. Education is the foundation for the success of any given society. Numerous studies have shown the correlation between education and lower birth rates, lower infant mortality rates and fewer maternal deaths. Furthermore, a more educated population will also result in higher personal incomes as we all expand access to financial opportunities. 

we have a new promo code just for the holiday its A 8% OFF THE ENTIRE ORDER In summary therefore, education does not only encourage personal development, it also offers the general growth of an entire community providing a place for people to interact, socialize, and unify their societies.

Education To Stop Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is physical,emotional or financial abuse that is directed at a family member   ( child, grandchild, parent or grandparent) or at an intimate partner. Intimate partners, regardless of their sexual orientation, are significant others, former significant others, married, divorced, living together or formerly lived together, and those who have children together. When this type of abuse is targeted at one of the above listed people, the result is that the perpetrator will face specific Domestic Violence consequences in addition to the consequences that he or she faces for whatever crime he or she committed, because of the fact that the crime will be prosecuted as one of domestic abuse.

Domestic violence and, more specifically intimate partner abuse, is a real problem in this country and knows no ethnic, social or economic boundaries. It affects partners, families and children, friends and communities and has devastating,lasting effects  on the abused. The goal of prevention is to stop Domestic Violence, and effective prevention should raise awareness about this growing problem, should stop abusive behavior and should empower victims of domestic violence to leave their abusive relationships. Although  significant improvements have been made in the ways that it responds to this issue, much more needs to be done to  prevent domestic violence.

Education is the key to the prevention of intimate partner violence. Counselors and medical professionals must get training on recognizing the the sign of abuse and how to approach an individual that they suspect is being abused. Victims must get information about their rights and resources  that are available to help them. The public must be made aware that domestic violence, in any form, is a crime and that offenders will receive severe punishment.

Prevention, in order to be successful, must address three issues. The first focuses on stopping the problem before it starts, which primarily is achieved through educating young persons about the problem. The second issue addresses services for "at-risk" individuals and provides resources to help these people identify known or suspected risk factors. This issue targets individuals, for example, who were either abused as children and therefore may be prone to domestic violence as adults, people with substance abuse issues, or anyone who may have exhibited violent behavior. The third issue is controlling behavior that already exists. This, for example, is punishment that a court imposes on a person convicted of a Domestic violence-related crime as a result of the abuse that he or she already caused to his or her partner or other family member.

Preventing domestic violence is the key to restoring and maintaining equality within a relationship that is affected by an imbalance of power. If successful, a couple or family will live in an environment that values respect, support, trust, honesty and accountability, responsible parenting, and economic equality, and that rejects If an individual thinks that he or she may be the victim of domestic or intimate partner abuse or thinks that he or she may need help for his or her own potential abusive behavior, there are sign and symptoms of domestic violence that are commonly recognized as requiring professional attention.

Counseling and a host of other resources,  exist for both the victims of abuse and for the partners or family members who abuse those victims. Help is available for those who wish to seek it.  Some institutions can educate a Domestic Violence victim about his or her rights and about where to get help, and will also fight for an individual accused of domestic violence. 

Education and Parental involvment

When parents are involved in their children’s education, They do better in school.
 Researchers discovered how important it is for parents to be actively involved in their child’s education.

When parents are involved in their children’s education at home, they do better in school. And when parents are involved in school, children go farther in school  and the schools they go to are better.
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The family makes critical contributions to student achievement from preschool to high school. A home environment that encourages learning is more important to student achievement than income, educational level or cultural background.
When children and parents talk regularly about school, children perform better academically.

Three kinds of parental involvement at home are consistently associated with higher student achievement:
actively organizing and monitoring a child’s time,

Why Is Parental Involvement Important in helping with homework and discussing school matters?
The earlier that parent involvement begins in a child’s educational process, the more powerful the effects.
Positive results of parental involvement  include improved student achievement, reduced absenteeism, improved behavior, and restored confidence among parents in their children’s schooling.

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Now We Need Peace Education

The educational action for promoting the concept of peace concerns the content of education and training, educational resources and material, school and university life, initial and ongoing training for teachers, research and ongoing training for young people and adults. A culture of peace must take root in the classroom from an early age. It must continue to be reflected in the curricula at secondary and tertiary levels. However, the skills for peace and non -violence can only be learned and perfected through practice. Active listening, dialogue, mediation, and cooperative learning are delicate skills to develop. This is education in the widest sense. It is a dynamic, long term process; a life-time experience. It means providing both children and adults with an understanding of and respect for universal values and rights. It requires participation at all levels family, School, places of work, news room, play grounds, and the community as well as the nation.

Peace Education is integrated comprehensive education focusing on life skills covering human rights, democracy, international understanding, tolerance, non-violence, multiculturalism. And all other values conveyed through the school curriculum.

 These are not just lessons for the classroom but lessons for life of immediate relevance, empowering individuals to achieve a just society in which all human rights of all persons are important and respected. Peace education applies to the contents of all curricula, at every level in the education system.

Peace education should be extended to all learners, including refugees and migrant children, children from minorities and disabled with the objective of promoting equal opportunities through education.

The education contest should provide programs addressing psychological and physical violence, including cyber bullying through violence prevention, conflict resolution and mediation in all levels of education.

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In the education sector, more efforts must be made by Government to identify and strengthen the right methodologies for empowering both male and female teachers to create a safe and secure school environment for girls and boys. 
 Education is important not only as a human right but also as an essential tool for achieving the goals of equality, development and peace.

The important role of media in education

The question this research seeks to address is this: How can media communication trends and technologies contribute to education and poverty reduction?

The media affect us in many ways: as a major socialising influence, a carrier of culture, a source of information, education and entertainment, an important factor in political communication and participatory democracy, and a communicator of ideological values and norms, attitudes and beliefs. The media also both represents and constructs conceptions of what constitutes a successful and valued life, along with what is considered to be deficient, deviant, marginalised or undesirable. The education of our children has always been emotive and when the mass media is added to the mix, volatility is inevitable.Hardly a country in the world is spared controversy in education, but when one looks behind the sometimes anarchic scenes, there is a lot about which to be optimistic and hopeful. 

Traditionally, the mass media and education have enjoyed a love-hate relationship. On one hand television and newspapers particularly, have provided extensive and extremely useful education content. On the other, however, their newsrooms never seem to hesitate when controversy rears is ugly head. 

In theory, it is absolutely vital for the mass media to keep an eye on the way in which governments administer and develop education, but it has to be said that in this day and age of a battle for survival within the mass media industry, the watchdog does tend to become somewhat rabid at times. 
Like most businesses the mass media often takes a line of least resistance when problems occur and a first step always seems to blame the trades union movements. 

In South Africa the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) inevitably faces tremendous criticism from the mass media when its members protest the enormous challenges and deprivations they face in the classrooms. Many of those challenges having very little to do with actual teaching. 

Regrettably, the relationship between the mass media and education involves a lot of indulgence in blame-games and reaction by both sides to superficial symptoms. 

There is undeniably an urgent need for the education authorities and the mass media to join together in improving the lot of our youngsters and young adults. The media cannot just be a watchdog and nothing else and the national and provincial education departments cannot work in isolation or out of the public eye. 

It is no good the mass media simply reporting on "delinquent learners burning classrooms" without delving into the underlying causes. Understanding perhaps, that after years of promises for proper school buildings to replace dilapidated, unhealthy, decades-old temporary structures, the only option left was to destroy the old building so that a new one would have to built.

There is no question that the only way in which the mass media can continue to perform its role as an education watchdog but at the same time become involved in helping build an efficient education system, is through improved communication. 

This probably sounds extremely glib, but when you think about it, bad or non-existent communication has been the cause of everything from wars between countries to divorces between married couples. 

In simple terms, this communication would mean the mass media and the education departments talking to each other a lot more. I have to say, though, that this is a wild hope and probably entirely over-optimistic. 

However, I believe that two innovations will force this essential communication to take place. 

The first is the involvement by private sector companies in the education environment and the second is new media. 

Argo, for example, is a good example of a private sector media company that is successfully creating bridges between education authorities, unions and affiliated and non-affiliated teachers. Companies such as these are becoming vital links in improved communications among stakeholders. 

The private sector is pioneering the use of new media, specifically social media in the education environment with for example, websites and increasing activity on interactive social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube .

The importance of social media among education authorities, educators, unions, private sector stakeholders as well as schools, pupils and parents, cannot be emphasised enough. 

Communication is one thing, it is a vitally important thing, but it is not enough.

Conversation is what is going to ensure increased collaboration by all players in education and the beauty of the social media conversation is its endemic role as watchdog. Not a one-sided watchdog but one that has sufficient information at hand to ensure an even-handed approach.  
 it would be a grave mistake for anyone in the education sector to assume that things like Facebook  Twitter and Mxit were strictly for children or young adults. They are extremely efficient creators of conversations among all parties, providing not only information and advice but most importantly able to address misconceptions and wrong perceptions almost immediately. 

The Importance of Technical Education in Today’s Economy

In recent article by Frederick Hess for The Atlantic, economists have estimated that “25 percent of the unemployed are out of work due to skill-job mismatches. Experts have also said that today’s unemployment rate of 9.2 would be closer to 8 percent if a majority of these jobs were filled.  When it’s difficult and costly for employers to find skilled workers, employers either don’t hire or they concentrate their growth overseas.”
15% Off Select Products Using Coupon Code: GRAB15 “The training and skills discussion is less about bachelor’s degrees and more about those who need a top-shelf technical education.”  So where can mid-career employees seek additional technical training?

The fact is, “community colleges retain a balky and inconvenient academic calendar, and frequently do a less-than-stellar job of linking their instruction to local workforce needs. Moreover, they've been slow to meet new needs, instead insisting that they first require new state subsidies.”
Therefore, most growth in career and technical education in the past decade has been driven by for-profit institutions.  With flexible scheduling, accessible online courses, and niche degree programs, workers have turned to for-profit colleges as a “convenient, cost-effective, high-quality option for an advanced degree.”
With high-quality retraining offered at for-profit schools, it is no longer likely for “workers in struggling industries to get stuck in the same job, for their skills to atrophy, and for their networks and work habits to erode.” Heavy regulation targeting for-profiting schools contributes directly to the shrinking supply of skilled workers, discouraging employers and leading many big firms to outsource.

When it comes to job creation, for-profit institutions provide a crucial lift for the business community.  While job creation is an especially timely challenge, the robustness of the for-profit education industry can make an enormous positive change in our economy.    

Career technical education is too critical to the 

nation's future to be a dumping ground for academic 

underachiever or problem students.We must help 

our youth to choose satisfying jobs and encourage them to take extensive training and, in return, see 

that they are well rewarded.

Bring Civic Education To The Front Burner

The importance of education cannot be overstated. Without a good education, one cannot get a good job, earn a good living, and provide for oneself and one's family. Education is the key to individual prosperity.

  Education is important to our economy. We have been hearing a lot recently about concerns that our education system is falling behind, particularly in math and science, hindering our competitiveness in the global market. The message is clear: If we don't improve our educational system, our economy will fall.

But we have been hearing a lot less about the civic mission of our schools -- and the importance of education for our democracy. Yet as Rick Hess pointed out:

From the dawn of the Western tradition, dating back to Plato, Aristotle, and their contemporaries, education has been regarded as essential to the formation of good citizens and the cultivation of a proper attachment to the state. For America's founders such as Benjamin Rush, Noah Webster, and Thomas Jefferson, one of the main functions of schools was producing democratic citizens.

I am reminded of our civic mission as the nation approaches a midterm election in the midst of an economic crisis. Voters will soon make difficult decisions on a number of issues that will shape at least the next two years in  politics.

But I have concerns about the state of civics education . The National Assessment of Student Progress  test in civics found that about two out of every three students at grades 4 , 8  and 12  have at least a basic knowledge of civics. But when you look at proficiency, the situation seems grim: just about 24 percent of students are considered proficient (24 percent of fourth graders, 22 percent of eighth graders, and 27 percent of twelfth graders). These students will become voters who have to make important decisions every election -- but only about 24 percent have a proficient understanding of civics? It's a bit scary.

This lack of civics knowledge could have dire consequences. Our nation is designed for the participation of the people. If our citizens don't understand how it works, how can we make the right decisions? We have to do better in teaching our children about our nation and its government.

While great civics education is not as systemic as it should be, there are great teachers all over the country doing innovative work to ensure students will be able to fulfill their civic duties.  Her students gain a thorough knowledge of how the government works by identifying a problem that can be solved by public policy and then solving it.

These aren't "theoretical" projects. Her students speak to policymakers, and they improve life in their school and community. The results of their work include new public restrooms downtown and a school-wide bicycle helmet policy. Then there is my personal favorite. Living in prime earthquake country, her students investigated the ways a nearby dam could fail. They met with county officials to discuss ways to solve the problem and presented a final plan to the county commissioners. The county got a state grant, with students testifying at the state hearing, to initiate some of the changes the students had suggested. And the county later got a grant from Homeland Security to implement all the measures students had recommended, including an early warning system, a well-publicized evacuation route.

Through such activities, I am sure Sally Broughton's students learned how their government works. And I am sure that there are many others like her. Hopefully one day all children will have such excellent, project-based learning civics education.

The overall goal of civic education is to promote civic engagement and support democratic and participatory governance. The idea behind civic education is to promote the demand for good governance (i.e. an informed and engaged public), as a necessary complement to efforts to improve the practice of good governance. Civic education has been used to address a wide variety of political and governance issues (e.g. corruption, civic apathy or post-conflict reconciliation) as well as important social issues (e.g. domestic violence, drug abuse, and HIV/AIDS).

Without imparting on our students a sense of their civic duties, and the knowledge required to carry them out, I worry that all our education reform efforts will be for naught. Our country cannot thrive if its citizens do not know how to maintain it.

Importance of Education to Youths

Youth is that phase of life when you dream big, hope for only the best to happen to you and look forward to a bright tomorrow. It is that phase when nothing seems impossible; you want to be successful and you believe you will. You feel you know exactly what you want from life and you believe you will get it. During these years, life looks bright and beautiful. You feel you can win the world. It's an important phase in your life - youth - when you turn into someone different. Turning from a child to an adult is a transition - a big transition. There's added confidence, added responsibility, there's growth, there's life - a new life. It's when you begin to understand yourself, discover your potential, know when opportunities knock your door and dream of only success. It's the time to reinvent yourself and redesign your personality. And that's where education has a big role to play.

Education is the best tool to bring a positive change in society, to develop a generation of responsible individuals and contribute to the development of good human beings. The fundamental purpose of education is to gain knowledge, understand the forms of proper conduct and gain technical competency in specific subject(s). Education serves as the means to develop oneself physically, mentally and socially. Here's how education makes a difference in one's life.

Gives them Wings: The importance of education manifests itself in the need to cultivate youths to become mature individuals. Youth is the growing stage of their lives. It is during these years that they develop from kids to become mature and responsible individuals. It is during this phase that they make career decisions and begin pursuing their goals.

Tells them Where to Fly: Education should consist of training and development in their field(s) of interest. It should help the youths define their career objectives, decide what they want from life and enable them to achieve what they wish to. Education to youths must aim at helping them build a skill set and work on the skills acquired to develop subject expertise. It should include courses that can help them develop a career. The education should open doors for new opportunities in different fields. It should help the youths find avenues to pursue their interests. It should enable them to venture into new fields and explore new areas. Education must help them set reachable goals and realize them.

Makes them Socially Aware: It is important that education to youths aims at developing social awareness in these adults-to-be. The training given to them should consist of environmental education and social values. They should be made aware of the current social and environmental issues. They should be explained the steps they can take in dealing with the issues. Education should expose the youths even to the darker side of society; the problems that eclipse it, the prejudices that shackle it and the superstitions that blind it. Youths should be encouraged to come up with ideas and devise ways to better the society that they are part of.

Makes them Self-Aware: Overpopulation, unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, abortions, unprotected sex and teenage pregnancy are some areas of growing concern today. The reason - lack of sex education. Incomplete knowledge in this regard or wrong notions about sex breed psychological problems in teenagers. This underlines the importance of sex education to youths. Education should make the youths self-aware.

Tells them what's Right, what's Wrong: While instilling the good in youths, education should also give them the ability to reject the bad. It should enable them to choose good against bad. Education should empower them to take decisions and make choices - each time preferring right to wrong. Education should give them the strength to accept the mistakes made, mend them and most importantly - learn from them. Education should give them the courage to rise after every fall and turn every failure into a success. 


The basic purpose of education is to create good human beings. Education is vital to the development of one's personality. In producing human beings out of raw individuals lies the importance of education.

Secondary Education

Once you've completed primary education – the term used for compulsory education for minors – it's time to consider the importance of secondary education. In most educational systems of the world, secondary education is optional "higher" education – university, vocational school – for older teens and adults. Different cultures have different names for secondary education, referring to these institutions as high schools, gymnasiums, lyceums, middle schools, colleges, vocational schools and preparatory schools. The definitions change depending on where you are.

In most Western societies, secondary education begins somewhere between the seventh and the tenth year of school. In the United States and Canada, primary and secondary education in public schools is administered as one big organization, usually referred to as K-12." The purpose of secondary education is comprehensive learning in preparation for higher education.

In the United States, high schools generally consists of grades 10 through 12, with grade 9 (freshman year) included in many districts. About 90 percent of American students complete secondary education. A high school diploma is usually required for entrance into a two or four-year college  . Students usually graduate from high school in the year of their 18th birthday. Grades 7 and 8 are usually educated together in middle school  with grades 9 through 12 educated together as high school. Interestingly, even if a child attend grade 9 as part of their middle school education, that grade is still considered the first year of high school for the purposes of calculating the student's grade point average (GPA). 

Laws in most states require school attendance until graduation from high school or age 16, but penalties are minimal and the laws are rarely enforced. Students who fail a grade may repeat it, and stay in high school past age 18. Some students attend alternative high schools, either because they're over 18 and returning to school to get their diploma, or because they have special needs (such as a learning disability or a disciplinary problem). In some states, students may attend secondary school up to age 21, and still receive a free public education.

Many students merely see high school as something to get through, never understanding the importance of their secondary education on their future until it's too late. But attending college is becoming more important than ever in the competitive job market, and students who get good grades during their secondary education generally have more job opportunities and earn higher pay than those who didn't receive a higher education.  It's an unfortunate fact of life that these are the years during which students need to pay attention to their grades, develop good study habits and plan for the future – in order to provide for themselves and their families, students need to see secondary education as an important step in their educational journey.

Human Resource Developments in Education

The introduction of human resources-related work readiness courses for high school and college graduates as part of the curriculum was one of the positive outcomes of the economic downturn that began in 2007. Accustomed to online social networking and text-messaging, these individuals often lack the interpersonal skills necessary for successful networking and job interviews. With most HR departments requiring online applications, technical education and familiarization with computers and keyboarding are the new educational basics. 

Workplace Readiness

Human resources is moving into the  schools and colleges are putting more emphasis on workplace readiness. Student job seekers still need math, English and grammar skills, but may fail in the workplace because they are not ready for the harsh realities of a regular work schedule. They have to be on time, every day. The boss won't like everything they do and they have to comply with a set of policies and rules they may not like. Some school districts are forming career education advisory councils, made up of local business and industry professionals, to help create programs based on the reality of everyday work.

 Soft Skills Training

A new employee may have graduated at the top of her class, but may not know how to compromise or effectively work with a team. She may not have any idea of how to manage time or multiple work assignments. These soft skills are essential when working with others to produce a common result. This type of essential human relations education teaches new employee how to get along with others and interact effectively .

Interpersonal Communication

The Internet and communications technology such as Skype and video conferencing are quickly replacing the stand-up two-day training session or corporate meeting. Public speaking, making proper introductions, presentation skills, and the use of media and visual aids are everyday requirements in today's workplace. Human resources often considers experience and education in these skills  giving one candidate an edge over another.

Work-Ready Communities

State and local governments are using education to gain the competitive edge. Through training, education and job-profiling, individuals, companies and communities can take advantage of training, assessments and certification. Schools can use the Ready to Work criteria and testing to certify students as ready to work before they seek employment. Certification gives human resources a measure of comfort knowing that the candidate has already qualified under this program.

The Importance of Food and Nutritional Education

One of the most relevant topics of home economics education to today’s social climate is food science and nutrition. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate of obesity among children and adolescents has tripled over the past twenty years and is considered an epidemic . Also, with  pressures coming from the media and other sources, adolescents are also very susceptible to negative body image and are at risk of developing eating disorders. Considering how common food and nutritional related health problems have become among the  youth, it seems critical that formal education covering healthy dietary choices be a part of every student’s lesson plan. Home economics programs allow students to gain access to this essential information. Learning about healthy nutritional practices has several positive implications for a student’s physical well being. Studies have shown that food habits learned at an early age are hard to influence and change . Without proper nutritional guidance, children are susceptible towards falling into long lasting poor eating habits that may lead to a number of health risks, including childhood obesity. Obesity not only has harmful affects on one’s personal health, but can also cause emotional stress, especially among children and adolescents. However, school programs designed to educate and encourage children to make wise eating choices can help alleviate the prevalence of obesity. And according to one study, the earlier individuals are exposed to certain practices, the more likely they’ll consider them a permanent aspect of their behavior . Possessing knowledge about food and its nutritional content is valuable at any age As well as understanding how the over-consumption of food can lead to health risks, students in home economics courses are taught about the under-consumption of foods and other eating disorders. Because of their increasing self-image insecurities that stem from physical body changes during puberty, adolescents are highly concerned with their weight, and in turn, food intake. Many adolescents, especially girls, feel the only way to deal with the increased pressures of being thin is to limit their caloric intake. However, this means of restrictive eating is extremely detrimental to a person’s health as a lack of nutrients and energy makes it impossible for normal bodily function . Studies have shown that one way to help prevent eating disorders is to educate children about the importance of eating healthy during their adolescent years, and that more of these preventative programs should be in existence . This is why home economics programs in schools are seen as indispensable by many educators. They not only provide students with an understanding of our basic nutritional needs for survival, but also help to prevent harmful dietary practices that affect such a large number of youth today.