Victoria High School students had a lesson this week in learning the difference between wants and needs. It鈥檚 an element of practical education that should be mandatory in all schools.
The VHS students participated in a presentation call Dollars with Sense, a Junior Achievement program that aims to improve students鈥� financial literacy. Sponsored by Coast Capital Savings, the program has been presented in 577 classrooms in B.C. in the past two years, and will be taken to 9,500 students in 2015-16.
Credit is easy to obtain these days; getting out of debt when credit is misused is much harder. The credit-monitoring agency TransUnion reported in August that 91原创s appear to be getting better at handling debt, but points out that non-mortgage debt averages more than $21,000 per 91原创. Total consumer debt in Canada now amounts to $1.568 trillion.
Many people who land in financial trouble do so not because of lack of money, but because they handle it poorly. Teaching students the basics of saving, budgeting, watching for fraud and shopping wisely can prevent much misery.
The student who learns that wise handling of money is not self-denial, but self-enabling, goes into the adult world prepared to be in better control of his or her future.
