take KARE of your MONEY: Teens & money

According to recent surveys, just one in three teens now knows how to read a bank statement, balance a checkbook or pay a bill.

The high school prom is one of those big events that come with a big bill.

And teachers say it's a great time for parents and teens to talk about budgets-- a lesson that statistics show is badly needed.

The prom - for some it's the highlight of senior high school. "Prom's like every girl's dream basically. We think about it a lot," Wayzata High Junior Emily Moher said.

What teens in Miss Lee's Wayzata High personal finance class hadn't been thinking so much about is the cost.

"It's crazy," one student said. The total bill for the teen ball. "It was a huge figure," another added.. Miss Lee's statistics show that the average couple spends between $625 and $1020 on prom.

That news came as a big surprise to her students. "I was shocked," another student added. "I myself couldn't believe it when I did the research," Wayzata High School business teacher Candy Lee said.

It's an important lesson about budgeting that Lee, who is also a member of the financial literacy group the Jump$tart Coalition, feels should be taught to every high school student.

"They may not take a class in college that offers financial literacy. And they learn the hard way, a lot of them," she said. "Coming to this class is good to learn how to manage your money and learn how to track your expenses," one student said.

Miss Lee says you can find out if you have a money-smart teen by asking if they know about saving by "paying themself first", if they understand how to balance a check book and if they can explain the concept of credit.

"A credit card is not money. It's debt. It's a loan. And I think a lot of kids when they first get that plastic, they start charging things and then when they get they can't believe how much they've charged," Lee added.

"I've always wanted to give her more than I had," mom Jewelean Jackson said. That's why she made sure her daughter took a money management class. "And it was kind of funny because I thought when would I ever use this. Now is the time," Thandisizwe Jackson-Nisan said. Hopefully someday we'll have a required financial literacy class offered in all the high schools throughout the nation, not just the state of Minnesota.

Until then Miss Lee says parents should be buzzing about budgets, so money memories will be as be as happy as the ones from the prom.

By Jeff Olsen, KARE 11 News Read Jeff's Blog

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