I definitely thought it was pushing people to buy stocks.

Other thoughts:
The show said only own ONE credit card. Why do they push having even one? You can rack up tens of thousands in debt on one card.

I also thought it was…amusing?…that they gave a brush off to the things that people are worried about. That the “confusing” issues about bailouts and recessions and the US owing money to other countries, these will be taken care of (i.e., somebody else’s problem). You just do your part of getting out of debt and start saving and buy stocks and it will all be okay.

There was good content, but some of it was cheesey in presentation – the celebrity drama sketches, the “Cribs” segment. There were times I was so distracted by the gimmicks (the Christian Slater/Rosario Dawson segment) that I had to keep reversing the recording to catch what they were really saying. I also felt the ending with Samuel L. Jackson felt a little brain-washy.

Outside of school, what’s a mortgage? variable rate? savings? CDs? common credit card company behavior to screw customers (although this will change next year)? Heck, I didn’t “get” the Great Depression until now!

My parents always said money was scarce whenever I wanted something. Everybody else got to go on school field trips, but I couldn’t go if it cost too much. They wore name brand clothes and shoes, and I felt I was made fun of because my clothes were cheap. That taught me to regard objects with emotion. I actually learned BAD things in school!

As soon as I got my first job, I budgeted $ for rent and food and tried to make up for a lost childhood by buying things I didn’t need. Sure, I saved some $…about $100/month, because I knew better than to charge up the credit card. However, I should have done better.

When 2001 recession came around, I struggled for the next two years. THAT was my biggest educator. It’s not just about math, finance is about emotions. The fact that this blog exists attests to the fact that many people still need education, and most of the media is actually doing more harm tan good.

Looking back, struggling is a good thing. If you’ve never struggled, you have no idea how bad it could be. You have no idea that you should be putting money into savings (so THAT’s why we learned how to calculate %) because bad things don’t happen.

I have a friend who lost most of her belongings due to an apartment fire. Now she places important things closer to the doorway in case another fire happens. I should learn to follow this practice, but I admit, I don’t. Do you? Someone mentioned above about people thinking it won’t happen to them, I agree.

Because of what happened in 2001, I am much better prepared for it this time around. I think the students that are graduating this year will learn this important lesson too if they end up struggling.

I think these videos, using famous actors, is a great start. Maybe kids won’t take it seriously, but some deprogramming needs to occur anyways.

Then that little financial crisis hit. I pretty much threw out the book and taught from real life. Stocks, savings, banking, loans, investing, insurance. It’s all there.

We’re finishing up the year with an entrepreneurship unit.

The best thing I think I did was a stock market simulation. The kids still check just about every day to see how their “portfolio” is doing.

Unfortunately if people like myself (early 20s) are the target audience, I don’t think they’re going to catch us at 9:00pm on a FRIDAY!

I hope I’m home to watch it.

Although I understand the parody of Seth Green’s segment, the information was provided so quickly I think those new to the area of personal finance may not be able to adequately digest it.

Can’t wait to see how other topics are presented. I’m probably not a member of the target audience, but I might just learn something.

I find it funny that the tiny house is located in what seems like a really nice neighborhood.

I have had it with these monkey fighting bankers and this Monday to Friday bailout!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4t6zNZ-b0A

JD, you do not know ‘frantic’, I think your child-mind was coddled by slow-moving kid shows of the day. Try riding on the Hershey’s Chocolate World ride in Hershey PA. As a kid, I went when it was still a tour of the factory. Now it’s a flashy animatronics-fest that manages to throw about 50,000 brand images in your face in 5 minutes. I would recommend it for 5 year olds with ADD who are tripping on acid.

Though I really think the idea of schools teaching personal finance is a good one, I think us parents are forgetting that it’s a life skill, and something that should be taught at home first. If your school offers it, awesome – makes your life a bit easier. If not, don’t wait for it to happen, do it yourself, at home. Open up your books, and start teaching your kids yourself.

Ultimately, we as parents are the ones responsible for making sure our kids are prepared to handle the real world, not the schools. Whether they’re public schooled, home schooled, privately schooled, or un-schooled, it doesn’t matter. WE are their primary teachers. Yes – be active for change in your child’s school, push to get financial curriculum if you feel it’s needed – just don’t assume that the schools will be able to do it.

For the record, I am a parent of four, the oldest of whom just turned six. We’ll be starting him on a small allowance this month, and we’ll be teaching him from the ground up about all this ourselves. So, I’m not just talking.

Where my hose at?

It isn’t trying to be cool – it is a parody. It is poking fun at the ‘coolness’ of MTV’s Cribs. Like Weird Al, this isn’t meant to be serious.

i might have to catch this.. i’ll throw it on the dvr

I think people understand the math, but don’t understand the emotions involved in spending money. Personal finance is much more about behavior and emotional decisions and societal pressure to have *stuff* than it is about know how to calculate compound interest. The problem is in only thinking about the hear and now instead of the future and not wanting to admit and understand that bad stuff happens to everyone. Then add in a population of parents function as an unlimited ATM to their kids and you end up with people that don’t have any clue about budgeting their money or making decisions on what is important to buy now and what should wait because they’ve just never had to make a decision like that.

Maybe we need to just tell them over and over “don’t spend money you don’t have”?

It’s not like it’s very complicated!

I am kind of mystified by all the adults out there who claim they had no idea they would have to pay back what they spend on credit cards, who claim they had no idea what interest would cost them, who claim they had no idea that going into $500K debt for a huge house isn’t a good idea if you don’t have a job.

Seriously, what kind of a class would help these people?

What I love about it is that it speaks directly to the image that we mostly get from television (and especially from Cribs) — that everyone lives in gorgeous, palatial mansions and that you should, too. Here’s Seth Green, a movie star, and he lives in a tiny, ungorgeous house. He actually has priorities, and will not be filing for bankruptcy like many of the people we see on Cribs.

Fabulous! Can’t wait to see the show! Thanks for the link, JD!

It was much better than I expected and had good information. It will connect with some kids, but one size never fits all. This seems like a good start. I say kudos to ABC.

I don’t remember there being any personal finance elective in my high school but even if there was I probably would not have taken it unless it was required. However I do agree that at some point early in life it would be very useful if people got schooled in the best way to handle money, and the poorer you are the more important it is to know this stuff.

I think video segments like this could be good segue for teachers/parents to go into more detailed conversations with their students/children.

I don’t think the nation’s problem is that schools don’t teach personal finance. I think the problem is that discussing money is a societal taboo so most kids start adulthood flying blind. When you add a healthy dose of “it won’t happen to me” syndrome, even kids that know the concepts just don’t want to admit they really *need* an emergency fund because job loss, etc is something that happens to other people!

Since the school district money is partially connected to the kids’ performance on the tests, there’s a strong incentive to teach to the tests. Some teachers have enough extra time and personal energy to go beyond that, but every year they lose more control over their own curriculum.

Solutions? I don’t know. Some ideas, like I’m sure others do. Hats off to the teachers who still try, though.

The teens and young adults are going to see this as a big fake thought up by the ‘older people who don’t have a clue about the lifestyle’, and the rest of us are just going to either wince or laugh and not take it seriously. It tries too hard to be ‘cool’ but really just falls flat on its face. Reminds me of Weird Al’s video “White and Nerdy” (which I love, but because Weird Al is awesome and it isn’t meant to be serious)!

A pity. There has to be a better way to reach teens/young adults. Or maybe the actual show is better?

Both my Jr High and High Schools (public) that I attended in the 1970′s had classes in Practical Economics. I remember learning about stock market investments, how to balance a checkbook, and how to fill out a 1040A tax form, among other things.

We also had classes in the more traditional form of Accounting that a great many students took as electives.

I’d be surprised if all of these classes have been eliminated during the past 30 years.