Affluenza
– a painful,
contagious,
socially
transmitted
condition of
overload, debt,
anxiety, and
waste resulting
from the
dogged pursuit
of more.
From: Affluenza:
The All-Consuming
Epidemic, John de Graaf,
David Wann &
Thomas H Naylor
LAUREEN SHALPID FUN FINANCE
“Ever felt like you are having an out of
money experience? So cash-strapped
that you have nowhere to turn? Maybe
you need to tighten that belt a little
more? These are all common questions
we hear when it comes to budgeting
our earnings.
“For many years, I worked in a community organisation where I saw how people
battled to make ends meet; people becoming desperate by their dire financial
situations. This motivated me to start
looking at how we could change people’s
lives in order to prevent these points of
stress and difficulty. After much research,
I realised that financial literacy should actually begin at a very young age.
“According to the Social Learning
Theory by Albert Bandura, people learn
through observing others’ behaviour,
attitudes, and outcomes of those behaviours. Children mimic their parents’
behaviours – either positive or negative
– from a very young age. Therefore, as
parents, we have the power and the potential to create, what I call, attitudes of
gratitude in our children. When it
comes to most forms of behaviours, we
are greatly responsible for our children’s psychological wellness, including
our children’s beliefs, values and ethics
when it comes to financial issues.
“We are bringing up children in a
world of many temptations. Everything
is readily available to us. We live in a
universe of must-haves and instant
gratification. However, within that lie a
few problems. Firstly, do we have adequate funds to purchase these items?
Are they really necessary? If I do not allow my kids these privileges, am I, as a
parent, causing their social suicide?
These are poignant questions for our
children to understand. Protecting
them from these types of discussions
does not allow them the opportunity
for critical thinking and being involved
in the decision-making process.
“Money and the discussions around it
are often family taboo subjects. Sometimes this is caused by the parents themselves feeling insecure and unsure of
how to manage their own budgets. They
feel unequipped to then give positive advice to their children, and instead they
create this cycle of mimicking bad hab-
its. What is necessary at this point is to
stop and take stock, and end that perpetual downward spiral of accumulated
debt from destroying your family.
“My focus over the past few years has
been creating workbooks and stories
for children between the ages of seven
and 11 years old. According to Piaget,
an educational psychologist from the
20th Century, children at this stage are
in the concrete operational phase of
learning, which helps them build cognitive skills through hands-on experiences. This is the time to start teaching
your children the value of money: how
they can save, how they can set goals,
how they can practice delayed gratification in order to buy what they really
need. Elaborate on the importance of
being MAD, someone who can make a
difference and be a charitable, giving
person. These principles can only be
taught and applied if we first get our
children to mimic our positive attitude
of gratitude. If we instil in the child the
feeling that they have so much to be
grateful for, ie, their health, their
clothes, the fact that they receive an education, they have a roof over their
head, they get food every day, then
from that point you can ensure that
money is just a means to improve one’s
life and the lives of others, but it is by
no means the one thing that can bring
us fulfilment and happiness.
“Fun Finance has created a series of
engaging and interactive story books
AS PARENTS, WE HAVE THE POWER AND THE
POTENTIAL TO CREATE, WHAT I CALL, ATTITUDES
OF GRATITUDE IN OUR CHILDREN. WHEN IT COMES
TO MOST FORMS OF BEHAVIOURS, WE ARE
GREATLY RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR CHILDREN’S
PSYCHOLOGICAL WELLNESS, INCLUDING OUR
CHILDREN’S BELIEFS, VALUES AND ETHICS WHEN
IT COMES TO FINANCIAL ISSUES. – LAUREEN SHALPID
JEWISH LIFE
ISSUE 72 55