Many kids grow up without learning how to manage money — parents assume the schools teach it, but in fact schools leave it to the parents. As a result, kids are going out into the world without a clue as to how to manage their money.
Enter the program at this Maryland middle school, which is teaching financial literacy as part of a program to help keep high-risk kids in school. The kids earn money throughout the school year, but they also learn how to invest in the stock market by keeping pretend portfolios of their own.
Now I’m sure these kids aren’t learning anything too specific about the stock market, such as day trading futures — I’m sure they’re not getting anything like this Emini futures training course. However, they are definitely learning something about basic trading strategies, without actually risking any money in the lesson — like younger kids playing pretend.
I think this kind of thing is a valuable lesson for schools to teach. Too often financial topics — not just how to budget, but also how savings and investments work, and how the stock market works — are ignored by both teachers and parents. This kind of program is therefore not only very valuable, but also — and unfortunately — very rare.
Don’t let your kids grow up without learning how to manage money — teach them young, like this school is doing!
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