Kids Suffer From Inflation

Kids suffer from inflation. The cost of learning how to live on our world goes up daily. The price a child pays today to learn about friendships, school, learning, decision making and responsibility is the cheapest it will ever be. Learning an important lesson today may be a bargain.

The older a child gets, the bigger the decisions become. Elementary school children make many decisions for which the price tags are affordable. This means that they can pick themselves up and try again if things don't work out. High school students are daily making life and death decisions about fast cars, riding in the back of pickup trucks, drugs, alcohol, etc.

Some children are allowed to learn at an early age not to antagonize larger children. They learn at the cost of a few minor bumps and bruises. Other are protected from the experience and have to learn the same lesson during their teenage years at a cost of serious physical injury, usually at the hands of a much stronger person. I'd rather my children learn at an early age when the price is much more affordable.

I met a parent who always likes to loan money to her children when they are young. She says that it is a great opportunity for the youngsters to learn about responsibility and the way that our banking system works. She expects the child to sign a promissory note, provide collateral just the same as an adult would do at the bank and pay the loan off by a certain date. She is actually training and preparing her children for the real world.

Recently she repossessed a tape recorder when her son did not pay off his loan on time. She said that it really hurt her to have to take the tape recorder. However, her statement that was most convincing to me was, "My son is really lucky. Here he is, only ten years of age, and he knows so much more about the responsibility of paying back loans, collateral, and even repossessions. All it cost him was a $29.00 tape recorder. It was a bargain."

She added, "My neighbor's boy learned the same lesson at the age of twenty-six when the bank repossessed his $2,900.00 car. My son had a sixteen year head start on the neighbor boy. Now he has an additional piece of wisdom to carry him through life." His life will be better in the long run as a result of this lesson.

It's painful to watch our kids learn through natural consequences. That pain is the price we pay to teach our children.

We either hurt as we watch our children learn through life's natural consequences, or we hurt as we watch them grow unable to take good care of themselves.

Jim Currie, Principal
Spring Creek School