What would we do without parents? They celebrate when we say our first words, encourage us as we take our first steps, and lovingly guide us throughout the first few stages of our lives. The simple lessons that we learn from their teachings and examples have lifelong impact. However, with all the responsibilities that parents have in teaching their kids, there is one important lesson that is sometimes overlooked. Namely, the lesson of good financial responsibility. With the large amount of people in our country desperately living paycheck to paycheck, this is an important issue to address. People are charging more than they can repay on credit cards and getting weighed down with debt. Indeed, as of late, “the consumer culture has replaced
…show more content…
I’ve experienced this lasting impact in my life as I’ve transitioned from childhood to young adulthood. At a young age, I was taught to give ten percent of the money I earned as a charitable donation. As a result, I’ve come to value generosity, and thanks to my parents’ loving guidance, I continue to practice this financial habit on my own. My experience is similar to what Collis and Laursen discovered to be a common occurrence. They describe how even though direct parental influence in a child’s life gradually declines, the values that parents instill tend to remain (as cited in Shim et alt., 1459). Even though teaching financial lessons may sometimes appear to be a vain effort, young children are more receptive than parents often realize. Researchers, Caruana and Vassallo, discuss how “parents have the ability to influence their children’s monetary habits when they are at an impressionable age” (qtd. in McNeill and Turner, 123). During a child’s early years, they are working to develop their values and learning to understand the world. Parents should take advantage of the opportunity to influence children by both word and example during this teachable time. There are rather unfortunate, yet avoidable results that arise when parents neglect this responsibility. For example, Grinstein-Weiss and fellow researchers reported that less parental teaching as a child corresponded to a greater chance of home foreclosure in the future (266). This implies that parental teaching (or the lack of it) really does make a difference and that the effects reach beyond
I’ve experienced this lasting impact in my life as I’ve transitioned from childhood to young adulthood. At a young age, I was taught to give ten percent of the money I earned as a charitable donation. As a result, I’ve come to value generosity, and thanks to my parents’ loving guidance, I continue to practice this financial habit on my own. My experience is similar to what Collis and Laursen discovered to be a common occurrence. They describe how even though direct parental influence in a child’s life gradually declines, the values that parents instill tend to remain (as cited in Shim et alt., 1459). Even though teaching financial lessons may sometimes appear to be a vain effort, young children are more receptive than parents often realize. Researchers, Caruana and Vassallo, discuss how “parents have the ability to influence their children’s monetary habits when they are at an impressionable age” (qtd. in McNeill and Turner, 123). During a child’s early years, they are working to develop their values and learning to understand the world. Parents should take advantage of the opportunity to influence children by both word and example during this teachable time. There are rather unfortunate, yet avoidable results that arise when parents neglect this responsibility. For example, Grinstein-Weiss and fellow researchers reported that less parental teaching as a child corresponded to a greater chance of home foreclosure in the future (266). This implies that parental teaching (or the lack of it) really does make a difference and that the effects reach beyond