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No Comments [ Add Comment ]Reality Check / Ben Lomond students learn the cost of being on their own
By BROOKE NELSONOGDEN -- Driving a Lexus isn't an option when you have two kids to feed and the rent is due.
"I can't get the car I want," said 17-year-old Edgar Rocha, disappointedly holding up his checkbook.
Students at Ben Lomond High got a huge dose of financial literacy during an excursion to "Reality Town" on Wednesday.
The teens were assigned salaries, families and bank accounts and then required to get through a series of expense booths, hopefully ending with money left over and some stashed in savings.
"I'm still trying to get a second job for the Lexus, but they say I'm not balanced enough yet," Rocha said. "Life is expensive."
More than 300 students in the human services and business small learning community at Ben Lomond have been preparing for the experience for the last six weeks.
Students applied for jobs based on their grade point averages -- students with a 3.0 or better could apply for any job requiring a bachelor's degree, students with a 1.7 or less could apply only for jobs requiring a high school diploma -- and were assigned salaries after submitting resumes to their teachers.
"I wanted to be a lawyer, but I forgot to sign the application, so I was rejected," said student Dalton Zundel. He then applied for a career with the next highest salary, an information systems manager.
Housing, groceries, insurance, taxes, child care and transportation -- almost all of the students were met with at least one surprise as they went along.
Even students who had plenty of money left over at the end were surprised how much of a dent certain expenses made in their incomes.
"It's a lot harder to be an adult than I thought it would be," said 17-year-old Britnay Smith.
"Now I want to find someone that's going to help me out in life and get more college."
Smith helps support her family in real life, earning money to help her mom with monthly bills, but she was still surprised to learn how expensive life could be.
Students were randomly assigned marital status, children and other individual circumstances such as medical concerns.
"I have a husband but apparently he's worthless," said Samantha Taylor, 17, of her hypothetical family, to which her spouse isn't contributing any income.
Taylor had a high enough GPA to qualify for her dream job as an athletic trainer.
"You think it's a great big budget, but it's not," she said.
Students who had a negative balance were required to attend financial counseling or take on second jobs.
"We wanted kids to see what real life looks like, that high school achievement plays a role in their future. We're hoping they're seeing it takes a lot to cover the expenses for a family," said Treesa Ryan, a faculty member who organized the event. "We want them to see the value of going on to college or technical training after high school."
Most of the students seemed to get the message.
"You really have to do good in school to have a good life," said 16-year-old David Mendez. "I'm definitely planning on working hard in school."
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