Drummond: Home Ec Classes Wanted

I’ve started cooking more, doing more cleaning and working on home-improvement projects from painting to plumbing over the last seven months. As I’ve spent more time on this kind of activity, I’ve realized how little skill I have. I searched YouTube tutorials for what seemed to be the most simple tasks, from seasoning a cast iron pan to masking the moulding before I painted my bedroom. I never received any kind of formal education around cooking or household maintenance, and the gap in my knowledge has started to stand out. 

Given how much time families are spending at home right now, it’s more important than ever that students learn how to perform basic household tasks. In order to help them, schools should reinstate Home Economics classes and make them recommended or even required to graduate. Schools across the country have been eliminating them in favor of other, more academic classes; according to the Washington Examiner, enrollment in Home Ec classes has declined 40 percent in the last decade as schools have replaced them with more 

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, home cooking was at a historic low, but shelter-in-place orders and restaurant closings forced many Americans to pick up culinary skills. In the last six or seven months, says The New York Times, Americans have spent more money at grocery stores than at restaurants for the first time since the 1950s, and experts expect the pattern to continue even after a vaccine is developed. If families and couples are going to be eating out less for years to come, shouldn’t today’s youth learn how to prepare their own food?

Universal cooking education may also provide benefits outside of health and budgeting. If young men receive formal and in-depth lessons on Home Ec topics, traditionally seen as a “girl’s class,” it may encourage them to take more responsibility for household tasks as adults. As a teenage boy, I’ve noticed almost none of my male friends spend time cooking or cleaning for their families. Mandatory lessons on the subject might help change this pattern not only for the moment, but for the rest of their lives. 

Home Ec education extends beyond cooking, too. Students may learn how to sew, garden, clean and even do taxes. These skills can undoubtedly contribute to a smoother transition to adulthood. I can’t even count how many of my friends don’t know how to do their own laundry, and I can only imagine how hard it’s going to be on them when they finally leave home. Many of these skills are also useful for saving money. Tailoring at home is much cheaper than getting clothing professionally altered, and growing vegetables in the backyard is not only healthier and better for the environment, but it also costs less than buying them at the store. 

Education around cooking and Home Ec has many potential benefits, and those benefits will only be more important in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic. The economy may take years to recover, and families under financial strain will fare better with a knowledgeable cook and handyperson in the house. Americans are also now more sedentary than ever, and home cooking, which is much healthier than eating out, can help mitigate the drawbacks of an inactive lifestyle. Finally, boys and young men who learn to cook, clean, garden and sew will carry the skills with them into their own new families, promoting gender equality and providing cheaper and healthier ways of eating.

Photo: “Home Economics Class” by Phi Psi Cli staff is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0