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Below is a transcript of a story that airs November 6 and 7, 2009, on American Public Media's Marketplace Money.

Some school districts offer courses with a personal finance focus. In Los Angeles, there is a requirement for all public high school students to take a course called Life Skills. It teaches the basics of budgeting, savings, and ethics. Youth Radio's David Dominguez thought the requirement seemed silly---until now.  

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It seemed dumb to take a class that taught you how to live . . . well, now I know.

See, in 9th grade, I transferred from a public high school to a charter school in Los Angeles. So I skipped out on taking a class all my public school friends had to take: Life skills.

At first, I was glad I missed out.

Now that I'm a senior, I know I missed out on something important. Big financial choices are waiting for me around the corner: credit card applications, paying for college, saving money. How do you decide when to splurge and when to save?

My friends who took Life Skills said it forced them to talk to their parents about money. They had to create a budget. Figure out what to spend, how much to allocate money.

But I lucked out.

My brother is six years older. He took the course. And he’s my go to person for finances. A couple of years ago, I opened a bank account. My brother went with me. He explained how it worked. How the banks make money from your money. He talked to my parents a lot about money. He knew about mortgages and taxes.

When I would whine about getting the newest toy, he would take me aside and talk to me. He’d say…ask mom and dad about how much they have saved. Ask them about what they spend to make sure we have a good life.

Soon, I learned about how they bought the house. They explained to me the long process that they had to go through to get a loan. Their biggest fear was getting scammed. So they read everything, over and over again. They talked to me about the process of credit checks. How they met with a banker and finally got a loan for the house that I grew up in.

Now, I'm a senior at my charter school. My friends are graduating from public school this year. And when I ask them...they all agree that taking the life skills course was important.

But they believe what I believe.

Teaching about money should start at home. Kids learn by applying what they learn to real life problems. It's what our parents deal with on a daily basis: paying a mortgage, saving money for big purchases.

I mean, it is life skills, right?