Why Kids Should Be Taught Entrepreneurship Early On
It’s clear the world needs more innovation and more entrepreneurs. And the skills of entrepreneurship are also good life skills. So how can we teach kids business to nurture that next generation of doers and dreamers?
Do we really need more entrepreneurs?
Small businesses really are the backbone of the economy. Almost half of the US’s private sector workforce (49.2%) is employed by small business, and for the last twenty years, small businesses have been responsible for creating two out of every three (64%) of net new jobs.
Some of the most important innovations in the last century have come about because of scrappy entrepreneurs (Remember, Steve Jobs started Apple in his basement).
Small businesses also lead the way in innovation. A study conducted by the Small Business Administration found that small businesses produced 16 times more patents per employee compared to larger patenting firms.
We’ll always need doctors, lawyers and accountants, but we sure as hell need entrepreneurs, too.
Which is why we need to think about how we can pay it forward and help inspire, mentor, and empower girls and boys to think like early entrepreneurs.
The problem with Most schools
Grade school highly discourages entrepreneurial thinking.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that some of the most successful entrepreneurs were B students who later dropped out of college. As mentioned before, non-college graduate entrepreneurs include Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Larry Ellison, just to name a handful.
The school system wants students to focus on the task assigned, not go off and dream up their own projects or become child entrepreneurs. Following direction is rewarded, and deviating from it or colouring outside the lines, so to speak, is met with punishment.
Guidance counsellors often encourage kids to pursue traditional careers, ones that require university education. There is very little talk of starting a business.
I am not saying education isn’t important, or that I’m representing every teacher in every school system in the world. Of course, math, English and science are important. Of course, plenty of teachers inspire kids to follow their dreams.
Instead, I believe the school system as a whole discourages entrepreneurial thinking on a fundamental level; they prepare students to become good employees. This approach should be changed.
Source
https://www.proposify.com/blog/entrepreneurship-for-kids