ROSEMARY ABBOTT | Culture
BAFFLING STUFF
Jeffrey Richards, 16, almost took home a valuable lesson from his economics class at King’s College today.
Richards, who attends the prestigious college at around $28,000 a year, was completely taken aback when his teacher explained how once they finish at King’s they would have to get a job to pay for their living expenses by themselves.
“What do you mean by ‘living expenses’?” Richards asked his year 12 economics teacher Galvin Marshall.
“It’s the cost of living. When you get a job, you earn money that will be used to pay for things like rent, food and other basic necessities,” Mr Marshall explained calmly as the boy leaned in, fully engaged with this new concept.
“Huh, that’s so interesting. But how can there be a “cost” of living though?” he asked, ignorant of the fact that there are generally costs associated with living and just about anything.
“It’s the amount of money needed to maintain a certain standard of living. When you are in the real world you will likely have to budget to make ends meet. Everything has a price and everyone needs to pay for the things that they need to survive,” he said, disheartened to see the boy’s eyes begin to glaze over.
Mr Marshall then attempted to use more examples to explain that many families and individuals find it difficult, challenging even, to pay for all of the things required to simply live.
More to come.
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