OUR CHILDREN
Patri, Angelo
Our Children By Angelo PatrK JUST AS SOON as a child begins to spend money he should be put on an allowance and taught its use and its meaning. Beginning with the youngster who wants a penny or a...
...Using money should bring a child in touch with the family life, its financial strength, its hopes, needs and habits...
...The use of money touches, modifies, guides, and forces people's thinking and conduct...
...Let him learn firsthand the dignity of labor well performed...
...If at all possible allow him to do just that and not make any remarks about the fitness of the job as long as it is physically and morally safe...
...Help him to gather the experience that will give him wisdom...
...Spent Money Stays Spent Even a little child can learn that his spent money stays spent and does not return at his wish to buy his new want...
...Beginning with the youngster who wants a penny or a nickel for candy and ending with the young person who is in college, the allowance should be used as an educational force...
...That is why a child's allowance is more than the simple matter of giving him a bit of money to spend...
...Teach him to save for a definite purpose of his own...
...And let him share in carrying the financial load of the family in whatever way you and he agree is most helpful, to him and to the family...
...When a child is able to go to the store and buy an article he should be given experience in buying...
...First he should buy under supervision, then independently...
...His astuteness is surprising once he understands what is going on...
...Insist upon his using some of his money for his own needs...
...Will Mean A Lot Later The older child, trained now in the meaning and use of money, is likely to want to earn some on his own...
...He must go without and take the inconvenience that it brings upon him as a lesson in correct use of his funds...
...Let no sympathy for his plight cause you to break that rule...
...That is a deep and lasting lesson and a valuable one if he learns it...
...That set of facts and experiences sets a sound foundation for the experiences he will meet outside home...
...The use of money is going to mean a great deal in his future...
...When a child spends his all in one sweeping gesture, he must not be given an advanced amount...
...Don't instill the false idea of "dirty work," and "white collar work...
Vol. 7 • December 1943 • No. 49
