A recent study from Harris Interactive revealed that 80% of parents believe their children are being taught personal money matters in school, yet 90% of high school students and 87% of college students say that whatever they know about money they learn from their parents. Statistics find that most children merely imitate the saving and spending habits they see modeled at home. The Rockcastle County 4-H program responded to requests by teachers for work-force prep programs by collaborating with the Youth Service Center to offer 4-H Dollars and Sense, a real-life work-force prep and budgeting activity.
21 volunteers of approximately 175 middle school students through the program, where they received a monthly income based on their grades in school and highlighted career choice. Students were given the challenge to budget their income so that they could make purchases at each of the 12 different booths including transportation, child care, utilities, health insurance and more. When the program began, a pre-test of participants revealed that 60 percent of students understood the concept of a budget, while 70 percent understood the differences between needs and wants. At the end of the program 100% of youths understood the relationship between good performances in school career choice and the importance of budgeting. 70 percent of students stayed within their allotted income. The event was made possible by local volunteers from Rockcastle County Health Department, Local FRC’s and the Extension Office