Would You Send Kids to Money Camp?
When I first heard kids were going to “money camp,” I was ready to be indignant about the pressure for earnings put on the young, the importance put on the trappings of materialism, yadda, yadda.
Oh thank goodness I just read the story. Because “money camp” for kids is really about business.
And in an economic meltdown caused in part by people who have frittered away their money buying on credit and not reading the bottom line, its clear our kids could use some good lessons in financial literacy.
Serving kids eight to eighteen, the Money Academy day camps teach kids business planning from market research on through production of a product or supply of services. The kids learn entreneurship and good business practices, mixing ethics with fiscal facts (for a sample of what they do, see below):
According to a study last year, funded by Merril Lynch and conducted by the Jump$start Coalition found the use of debit and credit cards by high school kids is climbing, but as many as eighty-seven percent of teen users have no idea what they’d be required to pay if their card was lost or stolen, and less than half are aware they should and check their credit report annually. Some schools require financial training for kids, but more are pushing so hard to keep up with No Child Left Untested that there is no room for these basic life skills.
The camp isn’t for everyone - it’s $300 to $370 for Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 3:30 (just one week), and it’s located in Austin, Texas. But for parents who can swing the extra cash, it might pay for itself. Would you send your child?
Source: NBC
Via Cookie
Image: MoneyAcademy
Related Posts:
-
Dad Who Dumped 9 in Nebraska Expecting Another
-
Teens Get $1 a Day Not to Get Pregnant
-
Gosselin Divorce Doesn’t Hurt Crooked House
-
Send Your Daughter to Wife Camp - Shudder
Related Posts:- Postal Worker Convicted for Stealing from Kid’s Birthday Cards
- Send Your Daughter to Wife Camp - Shudder
- Recession = DIY Summer Camps
- Swine Flu Closes MDA Camps
- Should Kids Take Swine Flu Medicine Before Camp?
Tags: camp, economic education, economy, finances, financial literacy, Jeanne Sager, money, money camp, summer
5 Comments
Sierra Black commented on Jul 03 09 at 10:08 pmI would do this in a heartbeat. I wish I could go to Money Camp - I could use it!
Ali commented on Jul 04 09 at 12:22 amYes, yes , yes.
Lula commented on Jul 04 09 at 12:13 pmSounds like Junior Achievement Camp. I’m a fan of J.A., even if I’m not such a fan of capitalism. J.A. and similar projects do good work fostering youth leadership, and we’ll do better as a country to have our emerging businesspeople steeped in an ethical leadership model from the get-go.
Marj commented on Jul 04 09 at 1:51 pmMy parents are terrible with money. I could have used something like this. I’d send my boys in a heartbeat, except my husband is good with this stuff and they probably won’t need it.
Kaz commented on Jul 07 09 at 11:03 amHell, yeah! Oh, wait, I thought you said Monkey camp…
