November 5, 2008, 3:50 pm by Akilah

• “Pop” quiz II
• Touch bases on schedule & work
• Go over Saussure’s Sign=signified & signifier
• Review readings for today & discuss the rhet of science and technology
• The election!: Discuss, debate, & dialogue

October 10, 2008, 10:18 pm by AshleyD

Podcast Transcript:

Intro music:

Soft Orange Glow by Josh Woodward

www.joshwoodward.com/music

Intro Statement:

Thank you for tuning in. My name is Ashley Davis and I would like to welcome you to my podcast. Today we’re going to take a look at the condition of financial education amongst our teenagers and an available option for maximizing that education in high schools.

Argument:

Hello. Today is Monday, October 6, 2008 and I’m going to get started here with a brief overview of why this topic is worthy of discussion. Our President of the United States just signed a bailout worth 700 billion dollars. The economy of America is so bad that Wall Street is constantly ending its day in the negative and banking institutions are looking to sell themselves. So lately, I and many other Americans have been asking how we got here. It seems that we could blame this on many things but the brunt of this current issue stems from Fannie and Freddie Mac and subprime lenders. Foreclosure rates are at an all time high because of poor decisions by both individuals and greedy businesses. Many Americans signed up for larger financial responsibilities than they could handle and “money-hungry” institutions approved them for mortgages larger than they could even dream of without thoroughly explaining all of the terms and conditions. Many would argue that due diligence had been neglected on the part of the individual and that it was their job to make the financially responsible choice.

I argue that the error and cause for these decisions goes way back to the days when we were children. Most of us were probably given an allowance as a child for the completion of a chore or for getting good grades in school. Yet most of us also were not educated on what to do with that allowance and how to value it. Maybe our parents failed us; but if they did, someone must have failed them also. Parents cannot be expected to provide their children with the proper education on financial responsibility because most of them are unequipped with the appropriate tools themselves. Let’s take a moment to assume that from this day forward we place the burden of educating our youth about financial responsibility on parents. It’s already known that people are becoming parents at a younger age. Not that that automatically qualifies you as ignorant about finances; however, the chances are great. In 2004, a survey was conducted to measure high school senior’s knowledge of personal finance—credit, saving, insurance, and retirement. 65 percent failed. That’s way more than half. Without personal finance education being mandated in our school systems, students are setup for failure in their futures.

As educators, the goal is to instruct and guide students in various areas and prepare them to succeed in their futures. In 1984, High School Financial Planning Program (HSFPP) was created to educate students on personal finance. Fast forward to the 2004-2005 school year, ONLY 7,500 classrooms used the program, which was its highest enrollment since its development. This statistic is not just startling but it’s sad. HSFPP, if implemented properly, can take as little as ten hours to complete and can be combined with existing educational courses. Yet only 8 states have legislated that personal financial education be either offered as an option or that it be a requirement for high school graduation. A program already exists that will improve our youth’s chances at having a brighter financial future and still in 24 years it has not been deemed important enough to mandate for all students. Educate and provide the opportunity. What students choose to do with that education is up to them. Education shouldn’t limit itself to math, science and English but educators should also be responsible for giving students the proper financial tools to succeed in a world where so many pitfalls exist. Especially given the current state of America’s spending habits.

As a country with staggering rates of bad debt amongst individuals and families, we owe it to ourselves and the future of our country to educate our youth. According to the US Census Bureau, consumer debt in the United States stands at $2.6 trillion dollars and in 2005 there were approximately 164 million credit card holders. In a few short years that number is projected to grow to 176 million Americans. We have $832 billion dollars in credit card debt and charged approximately $2,052 billion dollars to credit cards according to statistics in 2005. That’s just over $12,400 in charges per cardholder, which includes all credit card types including bank cards, credit cards issued by oil companies and retail stores.

It is true that creditors should be held accountable for whom they target, especially when that target is our youth, the future of America. However, as a business—an extremely profitable one—they will not carry the burden of education and morality. With such staggering rates of bad debt amongst individuals and families in this country, we owe it to ourselves and the future of our country to educate our youth about financial responsibility. Implementation of the HSFPP program may not solve every issue this country has with personal finances. However, a tried and true program that equips our youth with the basic skills necessary to navigate their financial futures is a huge step in the right direction.

Well, the time has come for me to jump off of my soap box now but not before I challenge you to push for a change in our school systems. Responsibility has to lay somewhere and each year a new graduating class is pushed out into the world without a sufficient education in personal finance education. Let’s not wait until the next recession to call for change.

My name is Ashley Davis and I would like to thank you for tuning in. If you are interested in statistics within this podcast or want more information about HSFPP, that information may be found in my written transcript located on our blog. Thanks for listening.

Music Outro:

Soft Orange Glow by Josh Woodward

Sources:

http://www.money-zine.com/Financial-Planning/Debt-Consolidation/Consumer-Debt-Statistics/

http://www.nefe.org/NEFENews/PressRoom/PressRelease/

PERSONALFINANCECOURSESINHIGHSCHOOLSONTHE/tabid/220/Default.aspx

August 19, 2008, 11:16 pm by Jennifer

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, 1:09 pm by Jennifer

[note: I emailed these to you also]

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