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This assignment was given to our college level sociology class this week. This is the assignment, VERBATIM.
"All assignments given are to be answered from a parent/guardian stand point for this portion of chapter 7.
Question: How do your children learn to be financially responsible and independent, if every thing they've ever hoped and dreamed for was given to them on a silver platter?
Please record initial reaction to question, and attach it to rough draft & formal response."
My initial reaction : I wasn't given everything I ever wanted. In fact, I worked ridiculously hard for nonessential things. Clothes, make-up, my laptop, and my car....which I STILL drive today.
Curious to see others, that's all.
Last edited by akp1121; 08-24-2010 at 01:35 PM..
Reason: People are particularly picky on these forums.....
How do your children learn to be financially responsible and independent, if every thing they've ever hoped and dreamed for was given to them on a silver platter?
But that is impossible. There is always another toy in the store they want.
I wonder that too. I worked for all the extra things I wanted in life....still do. But always had spoiled, unappreciative friends who were given everything they whined for. I can't tell you how to teach your children that, since I don't have any, but I just wanted to add my 2cents =]
Mine has tremendous respect for the dollar. She gets a small birthday and Christmas and seldom anything of any value any other time. She saves her money for what she wants and almost never complains. She has what she needs, but not much of what she wants. She understands that most things are not necessary and is very selective of what she asks for or wants. She values what she does have and takes care of it.
How do your children learn to be financially responsible and independent, if every thing they've ever hoped and dreamed for was given to them on a silver platter?
Who says everything they've ever hoped and dreamed for was given to them on a silver platter?
Question: How do your children learn to be financially responsible and independent, if every thing they've ever hoped and dreamed for was given to them on a silver platter?
Answer: they don't. Part of your job as parents is to teach them that not everything in life (in fact, very little in life) gets handed to you on a silver platter. Often times it means working very hard.
Last edited by maciesmom; 08-24-2010 at 01:50 PM..
Yes - parents who give their children everything they hoped and dreamed for are doing just the opposite of teacher them financial responsibility. So maciesmom is right - how do they learn it? They don't.
I was torn apart on another thread when I mentioned we plan to scale down this Christmas. my plans are (for 2 kids) 3 gifts each, for the 3 wise men. Also, we eachange gifts per family member, so each kid would get another 3 gifts, one from Mom, Dad, and sibling. Also planned to give them a gift card, amount as of yet undetermined although I was thinking of $100, to spend at the after Christmas sales). Ok, that's 6 gifts per kids, plus a gift card. What's so awful about that? any more becomes excess.
Also, I mentioned I plan to keep the decorations simple, and keep the food simple, perhaps eat out for Christmas Eve. I don't feel like calling up the whole thread and cutting, pasting, and posting it here, just read of you're interested.
I was literally torn apart for my "attitude" One poster even asked if I'd lost my mind. No, I think I've found it. By all accounts, a nice Christmas, just not overboard to the point of ridiculousness. That angered many parents, I chose not to respond to it.
The attitude that kids expect "everything" to be handed to them on a silver platter comes from the parents. Even though kids are bombarded with ads for this and that, ads set the expectations, parents set the limits. And why is that? If that other thread is any indication of the prevailing attitude of parents today, well, no wonder. Its not so much peer pressure from the kids, its peer pressure from other parents who literally badger parents into buy, buy, buy or you're not a good parent.
I also mentioned going to a church service, and visiting relatives, so include religion and family, hey, isn't that what its all about anyways? Or are we so busy opening one present after another we've lost sight of what the holiday is all about? (according to that thread, I've lost sight of what its all about, I'm actually trying to keep spending under control---gasp!)
If you want to pursue this, go call up my thread and read it.
For my part, I could give a flip what others think about how I spend our Christmas, as long as it satisfies us, and they're not paying our bills!
This assignment was given to our college level sociology class this week. This is the assignment, VERBATIM.
"All assignments given are to be answered from a parent/guardian stand point for this portion of chapter 7.
Question: How do your children learn to be financially responsible and independent, if every thing they've ever hoped and dreamed for was given to them on a silver platter?
Please record initial reaction to question, and attach it to rough draft & formal response."
This assignment was given in a college-level class? The sentence-level writing skills are marginal, and the assignment is cliche-ridden and rooted in stereotypes. That is my initial reaction, but I suppose that's not what the instructor was looking for in a response. Maybe the assignment wouldn't seem so sophomoric if I was familiar with chapter seven. Is your instructor a TA?
Interestingly, my parents pretty much gave me whatever I wanted, but I still had this burning desire to
a. take really good care of my stuff (I still have the walkman they gave me when I was six - and it still works; I'm 34 now) because I understood that every 'thing' they gave me represented someone's work
b. go out and work for myself so that I could create my own savings and buy my own stuff (chores when I was six or seven - this was hard considering we had 2 maids, a driver, and a gardener, but I found stuff to do, my own job they knew nothing about selling door-to-door from a magazine when I was 11)
c. get my first 'legit' job when I was 15, while in all honors/AP classes and in high school athletics
d. keep a job from high school into college (on xmas breaks and summer vacations)
Sometimes you can try to teach a kid something and they will learn nothing. Sometimes you can 'spoil' them and they still understand the value of a dollar. I put over half my take-home income into savings every month, and I still consider the value of every purchase I make.
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Is your instructor a TA?
