Title: Teens Flunk Finances
Producer: Emily Halevy
Feed: CWKN #383, April 30, 2008
Time: 1:31
SUGGESTED LEAD: TEENAGERS KNOW HOW TO SPEND IT, BUT BEYOND THAT, WHAT DO THEY KNOW ABOUT MONEY? ABOUT SAVING, INVESTING, AND BORROWING?  NOT MUCH, ACCORDING TO A NEW NATIONAL SURVEY.  THAT STORY IN TODAY’S CONNECT WITH KIDS.
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NARR:  IN A RECENT SURVEY, KIDS WERE ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT MONEY …

LIKE:  IF YOU LOSE YOUR CREDIT CARD, WHAT’S YOUR LIABILITY? (:09)

SOT: Blake Higgins (:10)
“One thousand.”

SOT: David Sowisdral (:12)
“500 dollars.”

SOT: Lauren Finney (:14)
“50 dollars?”

NARR:  WHERE WILL MONEY GROW THE MOST OVER 18 YEARS? (:03)

SOT: Lauren Finney (:20)
“Savings account?”

SOT: Denise Newton (:22)
“Savings account.”

SOT: Kelly Alcock (:24)
“Stocks.”

NARR: OVER 6-THOUSAND 12TH GRADERS WERE TESTED… AND THEY GOT MORE THAN HALF THE ANSWERS WRONG. 

EXPERTS SAY WHAT TEENS DON’T KNOW ABOUT MONEY CAN HURT THEM. (:09)

SUPER: Carol Pizza, Economics Teacher (:35)
“And it’s easy for these students to get the credit, go and buy a stereo, go and buy a television, go buy all this stuff that you want, and then all the sudden, they’re in a lot of debt.”

NARR: SHE SAYS PARENTS CAN TEACH THEIR KIDS ABOUT DEBT, BILLS, AND BALANCING A BUDGET BY GIVING THEM HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE WITH THE FAMILY FINANCES. (:09)

SOT: Carol Pizza, Economics Teacher (:58)
“They need to encourage their child to help them with their bank statement every month, reconciling their checking account.  Just let them be more involved, let your child know more about your finances.  Know how much your mortgage is a month.”

NARR:  SHE ALSO SUGGESTS GIVING TEENS A CREDIT CARD, BUT WITH STRICT SPENDING LIMITS … SO THEY LEARN HOW EASY AND HOW PAINLESS CREDIT CARDS CAN BE … UNTIL YOU GET THE BILL. (:10)

SOT: David Sowisdral (1:22)
“We’re getting to the point where we’re almost in college and we’re gonna be getting our credit cards and if we get into a lot of debt then your parents are gonna have to pay and you’re gonna have to pay too, and it’s not gonna be a good situation.”

NARR:  I’M COLLIN SIEDOR FOR CONNECT WITH KIDS. (:03)

SUGGESTED TAG:   COLLEGE STUDENTS WERE ALSO GIVEN THE TEST THIS YEAR.  THEY ANSWERED 62 PERCENT OF THE QUESTIONS CORRECTLY.  FOR MORE INFORMATION ON FINANCIAL LITERACY LOG ONTO <LOCAL URL> AND CLICK ON THE CONNECT WITH KIDS ICON.