NY Times: "Parents are suddenly saying ‘no’ and their kids are saying, ‘What do you mean?’"

[leno...@yahoo.com]

"The Frugal Teenager, Ready or Not"

By JAN HOFFMAN
Published: October 10, 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/fashion/sundaystyles/12teen.html?ref=business

Excerpts:

..............Mrs. Postle’s teenagers asked whether the family was
poor. Mrs. Postle, who teaches economics at the Columbus chapter of
Junior Achievement and whose husband manages heating and cooling
commercial installations, felt insulted.

The family was not poverty-stricken, she responded, but staying
solvent was costly. Although many parents consider finances the
province of grown-ups, Mrs. Postle decided her children were too
insulated. She showed them the monthly bills.

The teenagers were stunned. When her son saw the mortgage bill he
thought it was an annual payment.............

...........One recent morning, students in an economics seminar at
Elisabeth Irwin High School, a private school in Manhattan, displayed
an emerging grasp of the financial meltdown. But when discussing their
personal finances, many just seemed bewildered........

...........To “earn” spending money, some students were required to do
minimal chores, others to maintain minimal civility.

Regardless of family means, most did not have after-school jobs.

“I’ve never had a job,” said Nazir Khan, 16, a first-generation
American whose father is a cook and whose mother is an occasional
caregiver. “My parents want me to focus on schoolwork.”.............

.........One girl said: “My dad will buy three new shirts but then
he’ll tell me to cut down on my spending. So I don’t know what to
think.”

A junior recounted a fight with her father. She had shouted: “I can
afford the things I buy because I don’t have to pay expenses or rent.”
He had retorted: “Now you’re going to: $25 a night and $15 for your
friends who stay over!” (Threat rescinded.)..............

...............Last month Hildegaard Link’s two daughters, 15 and 11,
rushed home, frightened by headlines about the stock market. The older
one “totally freaked out,” recalled Ms. Link, a civil engineer in
Brooklyn. “She asked: ‘What does this mean for me? For my family?’ ”

Ms. Link reassured her but asked whether everyone could do with a
little less. “Let’s brainstorm.”

The girls made choices: lessons for either drum or violin, every two
weeks; fewer restaurant dinners; one new school outfit. “They were not
resentful,” Ms. Link reported. “They were relieved to be part of the
process.”................

Lenona.

[Rod Speed]

And they'll discover who gets to pick the nursing home.

[Tony]

So what does the stock market have to do with a paki whose parents are both on the
dole? Boy do i have it over all you guys. I live in CanaDUH so i know firsthand
about pakis. The odds of a paki telling the truth is zilch. No paki has ever told
the truth in their lives.

leno...@yahoo.com wrote:

--
The Grandmaster of the CyberFROG

Come get your ticket to CyberFROG city

Nay, Art thou decideth playeth ye simpleton games. *Some* of us know proper manners

Very few. I used to take calls from *rank* noobs,

Hamster isn't a newsreader it's a mistake!

El-Gonzo Jackson FROGS both me and Chuckcar

Using my technical prowess and computer abilities to answer questions beyond the
realm of understandability

Regards Tony... Making usenet better for everyone everyday