How does playing with money change children’s behavior?
This article is published in collaboration with Quartz.
Money often does strange things to us—kids included. Many parents have observed that their children may be changed by an allowance, for example, or even just an intense game of Monopoly. And now science bears this out.
According to new research from the University of Minnesota and the University of Illinois at Chicago, even kids who lack concrete knowledge about what money is exhibit behavioral changes just from encountering it.
Many of us take it for granted that introducing children to the concept of money is a wise thing to do early on, especially if the lesson is delivered not just in the context of spending, but also saving and sharing. I certainly did. But three years ago, in the days after Hurricane Sandy socked the US Eastern seaboard, I began developing doubts.
There were few options, though. Volunteer jobs helping displaced people or cleaning up parks specifically requested no involvement from young children. Rescue workers in hard-hit neighborhoods said they already were inundated with clothing donations. What was needed by then mainly was money. In the morning, I related all this to my daughter and suggested we go to a local store that was collecting cash donations. She could pool $5 or $10 from her piggy bank with my own donation, I explained—at which point she looked up at me, with that face that represents all the hopes and dreams I have for a better future on this planet, and exclaimed, “WHAT?!?!?!”
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Author: Heather Landy is global news editor at Quartz, based in New York. Previously, she was editor in chief of American Banker Magazine.
Image: Students play with their iPads at the Steve Jobs school in Sneek,The Netherlands. REUTERS/Michael Kooren.
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