Kids,Teens, Young Adults and Money: Words of Wisdom from the Frugal Dad blog & related resources on the web

It occurred to me that most high school students don't get much instruction about daily life tasks related to budgeting, basic financial planning, and so forth. Not many college-bound students are encouraged to take "life-skills" courses,  and for some reason, it seems that parents of high-achieving, bright students assume that financial know-how skills will somehow emerge with maturity.

It doesn't, and it is likely that if a parent has difficulty managing money, the offspring will as well!  Not to worry....

Seth Sandler, an enterprising 20-something, shared a link from the Frugal Dad website , 44 Ways to Ruin Your Financial Life by Age 30, which is a must-read for every teen, young adult, and parent.

The Frugal Dad website has a treasure trove of advice for young people - and their parents. Here is a short list of a few of his posts:

11 Nearly Effortless Ways to Save Money Every Month

How to Teach Teens about Money

All posts about Kids and Money

RELATED
Financially Literate Youth (FLY)
JumpStart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy
JumpStart's National Standards for K-12 Financial Literacy (pdf)

National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day: May 6, 2010

"An estimated 4.5 to 6.3 million children and youth in the United States face mental health challenges. About two thirds do not receive needed mental health services due to the high costs and limited availability of services in many communities. Families are challenged
with obtaining services, and youth are left at risk for difficulties in school and/or the community." -SAMHSA


The following information is from the US Dept. of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration:

National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day (Awareness Day) is a day for everyone to promote positive youth development, resilience, recovery, and the transformation of mental health services delivery for children and youth with serious mental health needs and their families. Awareness Day raises awareness of effective programs for children's mental health needs; demonstrates how children's mental health initiatives promote positive youth development, recovery, and resilience; and shows how children with mental health needs thrive in their communities.

On Thursday, May 6, 2010, Awareness Day will mark its 5th anniversary, as well as a first-time focus on the topic of early childhood. Communities across the country will observe the day with events, youth demonstrations, and social networking campaigns to raise awareness about the importance of mental health and increase understanding of the mental health needs of children and their families.

Awareness Day efforts will encourage the following actions:

• Integrate mental health into every environment that impacts child development from birth
• Nurture the social and emotional well-being of children from birth
• Look for and discuss milestones of a child's social and emotional development from birth.

The following publication provides information about ways systems of care can improve situations for youth who experience mental health difficulties.  Students who receive appropriate support have a lower rate of repeating a grade in school or dropping out of school. Suicide attempts decrease, and emotional and behavioral functioning improves. Students who receive support also show an improvement in attendance and grades. Youth who are at the highest level of academic risk make strong gains.

RELATED

Working Together to Help Youth Thrive in Schools and Communities (pdf)

The Awareness Day Youth Action

The SAMHSA website has a wealth of information and statistics regarding mental health, children, and youth.

There are plenty of ways to prevent serious emotional-behavioral problems from increasing.
Maurice Elias, the director of the Social-Emotional Learning Lab at Rutgers, has quite a bit to say about this topic and how schools can help.  He shares his wisdom via his blog on the Edutopia website.  Here are links to some of his posts:

Giving Visibility to Students with Emotional-Behavioral Challenges
Advocating for Social and Emotional Learning at Your School
Use Music to Develop Kids' Skills and Character

School-Based Social and Emotional Learning Programs (pdf)

Youth, Technology, Gaming, and the Library

If you work with kids and teens, it is important to keep up with what technology. If you work in a low-tech environment, you might not be aware of some innovative programs that are offered through some public libraries. I thought I'd share some of the exciting things that are happening in my region, spearheaded by Matt Gullet, the Director of Emerging Technology at the PLCMC (Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg) and Kelley Czarnecki, a teen librarian.

Matt maintains the "Youth and Technology" blog. This blog focuses on the use of technology " in creative ways to enrich the lives of youth". This is a great resource!

Matt and Kelley are involved in the Teen Second Life Project and recently wrote the cover article of a recent School Library Journal, "Meet the New You".

More info:

"Charlotte, NC - Oct. 6, 2006 - The Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (PLCMC) and the Alliance Library System are pleased to announce a partnership to collaborate on the "Eye4You Alliance," an island in Teen Second Life that will offer virtual library services to teens.

Teen Second Life is a 3-D, international gathering place on the Internet where teens 13-17 can make friends, play, learn and create. Teens create a digital version of themselves, called an avatar, that they use to travel around the "virtual world," meet new people and participate in a variety of activities.

The goal of "Eye4You Alliance" is to create an interactive and informative space for young adults within the Teen Second Life virtual world and to collaborate with other educators who serve youth and are already present in Teen Second Life and in real life.

"At a time when many libraries are offering collaborative spaces through social tools, a 3-D immersive environment is the next logical step to libraries remaining relevant to teenagers," said Helene Blowers, director of Information Technology at PLCMC. "This project is an opportunity to engage teens in services and activities that will excite them in a place they already are." -Second Life Library Blog (Note - the Second Life Library Blog was recently moved to InfoIsland.org)

GAMING AT THE LIBRARY!

The PLCMC offers teen gaming events at various libraries throughout the county, and a Gaming Zone for all ages at the main library's Virtual Village. The library has a set of new AlienWare laptop computers, used for LAN parties:

more pictures of the Game Zone program

Comment:

I'd like to see the library purchase Dimenxian, a 3D game that teaches Algebra. It has multiplayer capabilities, so it would be great on the new AlienWare LAN system. For more information, see the Tabula Digita site.



ImaginOn, the children and teen's main library, offers many opportunities that involve technology, including a video production studio, Studio i. The library offers workshops such as " Take Photos for Your Webpage" , "Make MySpace Photos Come to Life", and events such as a Dance Dance Revolution tournament, Family Gaming Night, and video game club meetings.

If you don't know what is going on at the library these days, I urge you to find out. Share this information with parents, colleagues, and the young people in your life.

-Lynn