{"id":1356,"date":"2009-01-26T00:08:23","date_gmt":"2009-01-26T04:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/?p=1356"},"modified":"2009-01-25T13:35:15","modified_gmt":"2009-01-25T17:35:15","slug":"talking-to-children-about-the-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/archives\/1356","title":{"rendered":"Talking to children about the economy"},"content":{"rendered":"

During a conversation among parents about their children\u2014now adolescents and young adults the issue of children and money came up. There were the usual rants about children not appreciating the value of money, anxieties about paying for college expenses, the astronomical increase in auto insurance when adding a teenager to the policy, etc. Most parents shared frustrations, and worry, about their teenage and young adult children not being able to handle their finances. <\/p>\n

I asked the group of parents if they talked about money, finances, and stewardship with their children when they were young. All said that no, they hadn\u2019t. That being the case, I wondered at their surprise that their grown children were unprepared to handle money as adults. <\/p>\n

Money and the economy are topics of high anxiety today. It seems it makes for a lot of daily conversation among adults, conversations that children overhear. I like to remind parents, and others who work with children, that one of the most important functions we provide for young children is to be interpreters of the world for them. And, like any parental or teaching function, we need to be intentional about it. <\/p>\n

Below are eleven points about \u201cHow to Talk With Kids About Today\u2019s Economy,\u201d by my colleague Dr. Daniel G. Bagby<\/a>, professor of pastoral care at BTSR. As always, he has good advice: <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Children absorb anxiety from family members and the family environment. How parents and adults react and respond has a lot to do with how children and adolescents respond<\/li>\n
  2. Answer children\u2019s questions specifically and openly. Perception of secrecy, changing the subject, or \u201ccutting off\u201d responses add to fear and suspicion<\/li>\n
  3. Encourage children and youth to understand more about family finances and adult jobs. Explain what you do\u2014and how your family spends and saves money.<\/li>\n
  4. \nAsk your children what they are hearing from their friends and from TV\u2014invite them to ask you questions\u2014and show an open and calm disposition to talk about money & jobs<\/li>\n
  5. Choose when you talk about work, money, and family security, so that you avoid discussing issues when you are tired, anxious, or frustrated yourself\u2014they will remember your disposition more than your words<\/li>\n
  6. If you are worried about your own job security, discuss it with your spouse or a trusted professional before you share it with your children\u2014so that you can \u201cmonitor\u201d the amount of anxiety you express<\/li>\n
  7. Watch for signs of anxiety and distress in children, who tend to express their stress physiologically and emotionally\u2014more than verbally: eating habit changes, sleeping habit changes, irritability, uncharacteristic behavior, mood swings, change in school performance, prolonged sadness, excessive withdrawal, etc<\/li>\n
  8. Express affection and love as adults one to another, and to the children\u2014and create an atmosphere of emotional \u201csafety\u201d<\/li>\n
  9. Listen to children\u2019s thoughts & feelings\u2014to reverse irrational and \u201cmagical thinking\u201d (myths). <\/li>\n
  10. Plan a weekly family fun & laughter event\u2014it reduces stress. So does a healthy sport or exercise. <\/li>\n
  11. Keep on practicing your faith. Such families are less anxious.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    galindoconsultants.com<\/a><\/p>\n

    Resources: <\/strong>Tamar E. Chansky. Freeing Your Child From Anxiety: Practical Solutions to Overcome Fears, Worries, & Phobias. <\/em>(Broadway,2004); James J. Crist, What To Do When You\u2019re Scared & Worried: A Guide For Kids <\/em>(Free Spirit Pub, 2004); Lori Lite & Kimberly Fox, The Goodnight Caterpillar: A Children\u2019s Relaxation Story<\/em> (Indigo Dreams, 2007); Rapee, Wignall, Spence & Cobham, Helping Your Anxious Child: A Step by Step Guide For Parents <\/em>(New Harbinger, 2008); Eimer, Moshe, & Torem, Coping With Uncertainty <\/em>(Harbinger, 2002).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    During a conversation among parents about their children\u2014now adolescents and young adults the issue of children and money came up. There were the usual rants about children not appreciating the value of money, anxieties about paying for college expenses, the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,16,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews-recommendations","category-children","category-world-view"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1356"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1363,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1356\/revisions\/1363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}