Banking on Our Future banker volunteer: ‘‘Does anyone know what
‘ATM’ means?’’
Fourth-grade student: ‘‘All the money!’’
Corporate America constantly bombards everyone in our society with messages that emphasize consuming, spending, and living.
The groups least able to counter the effects of those financially destabilizing messages are inner-city young people. These youths have the least amount of access to information about financial literacy. They don’t know—and all too often, neither do their parents. For children and parents alike, ‘‘It’s what they don’t know that they don’t know that’s killing them.’’
Learning how to handle money ought to be as vital a part of education as reading and writing for all of our young people. Children growing up in the inner city—and those of middle-class families eking by on $25,000 or $30,000 a year or less—are at risk of losing any hope of a solid financial future from bad habits learned early. Our culture’s cynical barrage of images has brainwashed them into believing that the right car, clothes, and shoes are all you need to succeed.
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