I’m going to share a story with you I heard from a colleague about Jessica, one of her star students in high school. This is a powerful reminder that academic success doesn’t translate to financial acumen.
Jessica excelled in math and science, was the captain of the debate team, and had her sights set on attending a prestigious university. With a bright future, it seemed nothing could go wrong for Jessica.
However, despite her academic prowess, Jessica had never received formal education on financial literacy. Her parents, both busy professionals, assumed she would pick up financial skills along the way, just as they had. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case. When Jessica received her acceptance letter from her dream university, she was ecstatic and took out multiple student loans, not fully understanding the long-term implications.
In her first year of college, Jessica signed up for credit cards to cover additional expenses, including a spring break trip with friends and furnishing her new apartment. She figured she would pay it all off once she started working after graduation. By her sophomore year, Jessica was juggling her studies with a part-time job, but the credit card bills were piling up. The interest rates were high, and she often paid only the minimum amount due, not realizing how quickly the debt was compounding.
Graduation came and Jessica landed a decent job. However, the starting salary wasn’t enough to cover her living expenses, student loan payments, and the mounting credit card debt. The financial stress took a toll on her mental health, and she found herself trapped in a cycle of debt.
If Jessica had received financial literacy education in high school, she might have understood the importance of budgeting, the dangers of high-interest loans, and the benefits of starting a savings plan early. She would have been more cautious about taking on debt and more strategic in her financial planning.
If you need online sites to help teach financial literacy, here are options. Pick the ones best suited to your group (Check here for updates to the list):
- BizKids–games to teach business and finance
- Cash Crunch–games for youngers and olders (HS and college)
- Financial Football–as fun as it sounds
- Financial Literacy Quizzes–in a variety of financial topics for high schoolers
- Gen I Revolution
- Life on Minimum Wage (a game–through TpT but free)
- Living Wage–what’s it cost to survive–by state, cities, counties
- Personal Finance for MS
- Personal Finance Lab–stock market game
- Practical Money Skills
- Spent
Curriculum
- EverFi–course in financial literacy for high schoolers
- Financial Literacy for High School Students–a course
- General Financial Literacy Course–an online course in meeting financial literacy needs
- Next Gen Personal Finance
Calculators
- Auto and home load calculators–from Arizona Central Credit Union
–image credit to Deposit Photo
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https://forms.aweber.com/form/07/1910174607.htm
“The content presented in this blog are the result of creative imagination and not intended for use, reproduction, or incorporation into any artificial intelligence training or machine learning systems without prior written consent from the author.”
Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.
Nice share.
Thank you. It’s difficult to find these sorts of resources when you’re looking so I hope you find them useful.
Thank you for sharing implortant resources, very informative!
Thank you! We all have to understand that money doesn’t grow on trees. I don’t know why that isn’t more important in HS student education?
Financial literacy is important, especially for students in this country. It was easier in Sweden where tuition is paid for and other expenses can be covered by a government loan that is both managed/restricted by the government (to not be too high) and has an interest rate guaranteed to be lower than inflation. When I came to the US the Swedish government paid for my first year BS/MS and after that (PhD) the US Department of Energy paid for my tuition and living expenses. I was doing research for them but it was part of my PhD. While still in Sweden I worked summers to get income, and my parents did not need to pay a dime. Here you most of the time have to plan and be smart about your finances while going through school. In fact it doesn’t hurt to be financially smart even if your parents pay for all your schooling. It is very easy to be spendthrift and uncareful with money, especially with online shopping and creditcards (which were very rare in Sweden when I grew up). These are good resources.
Even my children noticed that kids who lived under their parent’s wallet didn’t understand how to balance budgets and live within their means. Even in their early 20,s, my children found that stunning.
It’s critical for kids to get comprehensive financial literacy education. Unfortunately there’s a lot of politics surrounding education. I created Kids Get Money so teachers and parents don’t have to wait for education system changes!
Thanks for adding that, Annette. AGreed!