To put it simply, financial literacy is up to us. Don't believe me? Take a look:
-80% of us think that schools provide classes on money management and budgeting to
students.
-In reality, only 12% of Americans graduate from high school having learned anything about money at all.
And consider...
-71% of teens say they learn money management from us.
-And only 26% of us with children 5 or under feel prepared to teach their kid about basic personal finance.
Award-winning college professor and Jump$tart Coalition Board of Directors member, John Clow, says it best, "A financial literacy 'buck' is being passed from parents to teachers and back to parents again. Parents assume that schools are teaching financial literacy, but schools, by and large, are not teaching it. Teachers, like parents, don't feel comfortable." (The last point was a fact confirmed by Suze Orman on a recent Oprah episode.)
It's numbers like these that led us to create "The Money Mammals" to help not only engage, entertain and enrich kids' lives. We've discovered, though, that by distilling the message down to its roots (needs vs. wants, making choices, spending smart and other basics) it really helps parents increase their own comfort level and carry forward the lessons from the show into their kids' lives.
We have a duty to teach our kids about the value of money. Start today. There really has never been a better time.
-John
Sources: McCormick and Godstead, Learning Your Monetary ABC's (2006); FoxNews.com (2006); Fleet Boston Survey (2003)
2 comments:
Absolutely agree that parents need to teach their children about money. One report I read lately show that the 18-25 age group has the highest bankruptcy rate. This will continue to be the case until we as parents teach them financial acumen.
It really is up to us. Thanks for sending that information about bankruptcy rate, Jen.
-John
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