2 febbraio 2024
Dr. Daniele Nappo, Legal Representative and founder of the S. Freud Private School, draws attention to Home Economics, a subject that should be taught in school. Until the 1970s it was taught to girls all over Italy, still today in some European countries it is taught to boys and girls.
In some countries they have decided to focus on Home Economics in school: in short, learning how to sew, administer the house, do laundry, and plan the weekly work in a household. In Italy, teaching, until the 1970s, was an actual subject. The outdated tradition was soon replaced by a more neutral subject: technical education. In many nations, however, especially in Northern Europe, Home Economics has never disappeared from the list of school subjects. Perhaps today it might be important to reintroduce this discipline also in our classrooms for all students: girls and boys. The lessons are diverse and beneficial: they range from learning how to administer family finances, to knowing how to effectively manage chores such as changing closets and washing machines, to keeping the refrigerator tidy and properly setting up a grocery shopping.And then you study sustainable economics, conducting relations with banks and critical consumption. In short, a real overview to make students self-reliant. In Finland for example, Home Economics is a school subject like any other and is taught as early as middle school. In Sweden, Home Economics, whose literal name is "Household and Consumer Knowledge," has been compulsory for boys and girls since 1960. The social aspects of reintroducing this subject in middle and high schools, therefore, could be multifaceted especially in a society that is trying to smooth out gender differences. In Italy nowadays, two-thirds of all housework is done by women. It seems that policies in favor of greater equality are building some progress, but perhaps it is from schools that an education for life that does not lead to inequality can and must start again.
