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TEACHING CHILDREN ABOUT money could help them develop good habits for the future.
That’s according to the National Consumer Agency which has outlined ways for parents to help their children save.
Schools across the country are also getting in on the act by encouraging students to save in banks and credit unions.
Director of SchoolDays.ie Annemarie Wade said many schools are now establishing a mini bank in the class and the students run it themselves.
She said that it opens on certain days and students can make withdrawals and lodgements. She described it as “a good example of life skills learning”.
Another parent said “It’s a really good idea and now I notice that if my child is given €20 as a gift, he’s putting at least half of that into his account”.
Online Teaching
Ireland’s first free online teaching resource to help primary school children manage money was launched this week.
Primary school pupils can learn about the “practical and emotional issues around managing money” according to Experian, a global information services company.
Values, Money and Me deals with earning money, budgeting and saving through stories and engaging activities.
Declan Murphy, Commercial Director of Experian Ireland, said:
At Experian, we see every day how a lack of basic financial skills can impact on a person and the choices they make.
The resource has already been launched in the United Kingdom.
It has been piloted by teachers and pupils of Our Lady Immaculate Senior National School in Darndale for the past six months.
Cold hard cash
The National Consumer Agency says teaching a child about managing money at an early age can help them understand the difference between needs and wants.
It advises that pocket money can be a good way to start. The agency recommend three jars labelled spending, savings and future.
“Every time your child receives money they can decide how much they would like to put into each jar”.
Bank Account
Banks, credit unions and post offices offer children’s accounts and can be opened for as little as €1.
The National Consumer Agency says that “once the account is opened, you can encourage your child to lodge money from their savings jars into their account each week”.
It also says that a good way to teach children about making choices is to involve them in some household budgeting decisions.
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The only management I had to do as a young lad was how I’d spend 20p, 10 fizzy colas and a dan bar or 10 fizzy colas and a packet of meanies! Life was simple then!
They should be taught financial management , how to drive and domestic science. People leaving school haven’t a clue how to boil an egg or prepare a meal. It’s a god idea to teach children ow to budget, save , invest and how to make the most of their income.
Great idea. Never understood why kids aren’t taught some basics they’ll need when they’re adults.
Totally agree – its a no-brainer!
Too many kids leave school with their heads stuffed full of abstract mathematical concepts etc. but no idea whatsoever about how the real world works in terms of personal finance, mortgages, pensions etc..
I very much count myself in that group (although I did leave school more than a handful of years ago). Most of the invaluable knowledge I have accumulated about personal finance over the years I had to seek out for myself. Too many people never do this, live their lives in ignorance and sadly sometimes end up in financial distress as a result.
How is there 6 thumbs down for this short accurate simple intelligent observation
One of the objects of the programme is just to make kids understand the value of money and how to manage it.its done in a way for young kids to understand .ps that’s my lad in the picture 3rd from the back :).
Good idea, I see so many adults who can’t manage their money and don’t get the concept of saving for a rainy day (I’m talking about ones who could have money to save if they wanted, not people who really have nothing left at the end of the week no matter what they do).
It’s a good idea to get them in good habits early.
Set up a school bank and get the kids to lodge €1 per week.
Then send them a statement at the end of the month notifying them of the 90c per week charges deducted from their account.
Let them take out loans if they forgot their lunch money. If they miss a payment, let the 6th class prefects come and take their wendy house.
Let the economics teacher invest their savings (taking a “small” commission) in the next get rich quick scheme.
When the school bank goes broke, with the headmaster (bank Ceo) will retire on the bonus received for all their “hard work” to the Bahamas.
The bank realises it did not have the money to pay the bonus, so forces the parents to cough up for the debts, on threat of expelling the kids from school.
That would be a real life lesson for the kids.
@Alan – brilliant!
Exactly ! Well said sir ! Kids should also be taught that there are alternatives to banks and other similar institutions ….such as art collecting, buying gold, etc !
It’ll be more useful than learning Peig anyway
Its a great idea.Ive been trying (somewhat unsuccessfully) to teach my son to manage his money.he gets a certain amount every week to cover school lunches and bus fare.anything over that he has to work for.important they dont grow up with a sense of entitlement
Badly needed. Now just add
- driving
- cooking
- career choice
- tax
- nutrition
- daily exercise and exercise education (what you should do weekly and at what she/how to use a gym/introduction to new sports)
- career roles and responsibilities (performance etc)
- when and how do you write a will
- what will likely happen in life; relationship expectations and management (eg randomly 50% of marriages fail what kids should expect as real life, affairs etc)
- what is a or pension
- first aid
- drug and alcohol awareness
- suicide awareness
- domestic violence (you can’t hit a women)
- what is a mortgage? How do you even begin? Or what are the benefits of buying v not buying etc
- what is marriage (not just romance it’s a very complex business relationship that we know very little about)
- Sex. What to expect. Sti awareness.
- what formalities happen in event of birth or death
- health management top causes of deaths
- politics
- more home economics
- basic house wiring and plumbing
- how to do a shop prudently
- car maintenance
- topical and current social issues housing crisis.
- what to do in top 15 emergencies (e.g. heart attack, fire, robberies, stroke)
- dealing with loss and grieving
- what people do to occupy their time. Potential interests and how to get into them.
- tackling bullying
What is debt and how to avoid
Negative equity
The legal system. What sentences are handed out for what crimes.
What’s the housing market
What if I’m unemployed.
What happens if I have a car crash
What state benefits are there/what impact is that having on the state coffers
What is there to expect in a career on a daily
If my 31 year old brother dies with 8 grand in his bank account and no will what happens?
How do I organize a funeral because it hits someone close and I’m knocked and I have to host a big challenging event it’s hard
What happens if I die in debt
Wills and inheritance (what to expect)
How much does the average person have in their bank account at any given time (I have no idea fri school)
How to manage falling outs and fighting
Your dad has been having an affair.
What’s someone’s sexuality?
You come home to find a family member aggressively drunk (how to handle)
My cousin committed suicide. What should I to say to my friends/tell people?
When parents fail on good manners can a school teach me?
What are the biggest costs I’ll have when having a family
What if I want to leave a relationship?
How many holidays can I go on
What lifestyle I can live on what salaries
How do I get jobs?
I want to do a trade. Who do I contact?
How do I get a loan?
I’ve got cancer or diabetes or a stroke what should I expect. How do avoid these?
Ecstasy is meant to be bad but the lads just took it so is it ok maybe?
What happens if I fail exams?
How much can I eat each day
“domestic violence (you can’t hit a women)”
How about “you can’t hit anyone”? I hate this whole attitude where it’s demmed somewhat okay to hit a man. Because I’m gay, does that mean that me and my boyfriend can beat two shades of shìte out of each other, and it’s fine because we’re both male?
Yeah you’re right my bad.
You can’t hit anyone full stop.
What to do at what stages of your life eg travelling.
Finding friends.
How do I change my child’s school.
Dealing with autism
What is pregnancy and what to expect?
Can I just relocate and live in another country?
Does my school teach me to be fluent in a language?
I’m anorexic what should I expect in terms of support?
Teaching valuable good work ethic and that you have to out your head down and graft to achieve.
Motivation and how to maintain it
How to meet a guy/girl
How to fix things? Cars, wooden tables bla bla bla
Education about teen fighting/nightclub fighting.
How do I set up my own business?
I just had a lasagne. That’s a healthy homemade meal isn’t it so I’m fine. Can be as bad as two Big Macs.
What are the best ways for me to avoid injuries in sport.
What should I choose in college? Should I go to college?
See there now if I was educated on this I wouldn’t of made that mistake lol
*have
Has the concept of parents educating their children gone out the window altogether ?
Why can’t we just let children be children, 13 onwards is plenty of time to learn about money, what about the child in the class that has little or no money to save what will this idea do to them?.
Kids … The wife needs to know 1st
Let them have a childhood. They have plenty of time to stress over money.
If they know how to manage money they might stress less over it. Don’t borrow unless its for something that will generate income. Live within your means and not a millionaire lifestyle fuelled on credit.
It is a good idea. Last year I bought each of my kids one of those saving cans that you have to open with a tin opener. They spent the year putting coppers and some of their pocket money or gifts into it. When we went on holidays they cracked them open and had the best part of €100 in them. They were a lot more careful how they spent their holiday money. This year we opened them a credit union account each and on a Friday evening we wander down and they put in a few pence. Sometimes as little as 20c but they see it adding up and they like to have some money to put into their account. They also get a lot of encouragement from the staff in the credit union no matter how small their lodgement is.
I’m all for it. I would highly recommend that children of all ages should know about money. But you can be sure that within the curriculum they would not be thought the truth about money. That money is created by dept and by borrowing money from a bank is practically handing THEM cash up to 9 times the amount of the borrowings.
@Terry – Exactly!
Let children be children for crying out loud…. What will be next ban Santa Clause from Ireland childhood is for a few short years allow them to be children.
Ok Bernadette maybe you’re right when you say children but teenagers you have to agree this is pretty crucial for them
Bernadettte I don’t think they will going into detail about loans apr credit cards mortgages finance etc
It will be child friendly.
I teach my 6 yr old at home that if he would like something that’s classed as a luxury he has to earn the money. Just like we do.
So he brings out the recycling rubbish to the green bin or he checks off the shopping list as we go round the supermarket or Hoover the car. Also any money he gets for birthdays etc goes into his junior savers acc for his holiday.
I over heard a young girl in the post office ask her father are we collecting your wages and I was stunned to hear him reply yeah they pay me to stay at home with you! Not only was the child school age but teaching her that is unacceptable
Yes, absolutely. And everything Sean said as well. Life skills are so much more important than some of the rubbish being taught in schools.
I wish this had been done when I was at school.
Give them a smart card and let the smart card manage the kids….
yes a great idea although saying that it should be the parents doing it. i try with my 6 yr old as best as i can he wanted to go to the circus last week but id just paid for his school tour so i told him he had to make his choice he couldn’t have both. i could have very easily done both but thats not a lesson i want him to learn that u can have everything u want.
considering the number of former teacher in government and the absolute mess this countries finances are in ,is it really wise for us to allow teachers to learn our children about how to handle money?
have your say