Finance Roll

I walked up to the counter at the local Blockbuster video where I was greeted with a smile from the young teenage boy at the counter. He must have been about 16 or 17 years old.

"Great choice for tonight! 7 Pounds, it was amazing!" the young man behind the counter lit up with excitement! "That'll be $5.65, ma'am!"

I handed him a Twenty dollar bill and he stared at the cash register for several moments looking completely lost. Suddenly I realized that he was struggling. Struggling to make my change as the computer on the cash register was not working! Wow! It was like watching the most confident, charismatic kid shrink into despair and embarrassment!

I have come to realize on many shopping instances since then, that there is a large lack of knowledge in many basic life skills that we have taken for granted with our future generations! How to add and subtract without using a calculator! Wow! Something as simple as 5 x 5 = 25 has become an issue. How did this happen? When did this happen? I do not think we will ever find the answer to this question!

I can see that a great majority of teens can do calculus and trigonometry, but basic skills that don't take a calculator to execute have been lost like an ancient art! They just don't add up!

This is not the fault of our youth. They didn't even know this was an issue for them until having to conquer a simple task in life. We, as adults, let this slide passed our self consciousness and now it is showing up in the simple tasks. As simple as making change. Once something is recognized, we now have an opportunity to do something about it. Pointing fingers at our teachers to do it makes no difference. The schools are unable to get this issue resolved right away, however, we as parents have an opportunity to begin ensuring that this is not an issue for future generations.

Programs in Toronto, Ontario, are set to roll out in Septemebr 2009, having learning the basics of life skills such as chequebook balancing, credit vs. debt workshops, how to file taxes, self confidence and self esteem programs with live intimate and interactive groups have teenagers be on the winning edge of taking on the next steps of their lives with confidence is on its way! " It is always fun to be in conversation with teens and see them understand something new for the first time. I am committed that with these basic experiences going out into their lives, they do so with confidence and believe in themselves!"