After writing about college students and their use of credit cards last week, this seemed like a good time to highlight an effort to teach the younger set about money.
Quite often, teenagers learn about money as they move from one purchase request to the next. I overheard a tough-love lesson offered during a recent shopping trip to Lakeside Mall. The end-of-summer sale offered half off swimsuits and the typical looking teenager had found the perfect fit. It suited her tastes, but not Grandma's wallet.
"I'm not spending $60 on a swimsuit. Your mother might, but I'm not doing it," the grandmother said.
The grandmother got her point across in that teachable moment, but it seems such lessons are too rare. There's a growing recognition that Americans need to do more to teach the next generation about money long before they're old enough to get into debt. Today's highly indebted consumers were once teenagers who probably didn't get lessons on the best way to juggle daily expenses, long-term financial goals and invest.
A course aptly titled "Welcome to the Real World" connects career choices, decision-making and money management skills. The class is offered by the LSU AgCenter Extension Service and is available to teachers or any group that works with junior high and senior high school students.
The "Real World" curriculum, developed several years ago at the University of Illinois, starts with classroom lessons on budgeting and the mechanics of writing a check and tracking the balance. The students assume they are 25 years old, have completed their basic education and are living independently. They choose a career path and a card lists the occupation, monthly income and withholdings. Once students have an idea of how much money is left after taxes and other payroll obligations, they're off to make tough real-life decisions, said Pamela Marquis, associate extension agent for Orleans Parish.
This summer 70 students from the University of New Orleans' Classic Upward Bound Program completed the program and apparently picked up some practical skills and insight into their parents' daily struggle.
The students went through a series of stations to pay their major monthly bills and chose how much to spend on clothing, entertainment, food, housing, insurance, transportation and utilities. They used checks to pay expenses and tracked the dwindling balances on their bank ledgers.
The result: a collective sigh at how hard it was to stretch their paychecks.
"How do they expect me to pay for all of this," said Chris Olivo, 13, whose job as a draftsman paid $1,875 a month. "How can you buy all this stuff in one month? I'll be eating Ramen noodles the rest of my life."
For fellow student ShanTra Henry, 17, her $3,000 monthly salary as an air traffic controller covered her rent and car payment, but not the vacation she desired.
"You need all kinds of insurance," she said. "Money goes fast after you pay your bills. You don't even get a chance to splurge or even go look at a store. I mean, what's the point if you don't have the money. I really learned the difference between a need and a want. I really wanted a cruise but I didn't need it."
Volunteers from local banks and the business community help with the program, explaining options available at each decision point.
The goal of "Welcome to the Real World" is to teach students skills to manage their finances, the importance of saving money and to explore alternatives that would help balance a budget. They also can begin to connect their career choices with future income potential. That's important when as college students, they weigh their course of study against their ability to repay hefty student loans.
The program is free to any teacher or group that would like to offer the program to a group of teens. For information, call Traig Varnado, associate extension agent in the AgCenter's Orleans parish office at 838-1170.
Ronette King can be reached at email@example.com or 504.826.3308.