Sunday, September 13, 2009

First Day o' School

On the first day of school I give out a student interest inventory. It asks about brothers and sisters, favorite books, movies, TV shows, etc. Toward the bottom it asks, "If you had a million dollars, what would you do with it?"

Now of course there are some kids who said they would buy mansions and video games, which is what I expected to see. But I would say over half said something along these lines:

"I would give half to charity and the other half to my parents to pay the bills."

"I would buy what I NEED first, and then get things that I want."

"I would give it to my parents because there is a money crisis."

"I would give it to someone that really needed the money."

I wonder if this is a result of the economic crisis? Even 6th graders are aware that times are hard and that money can do more than just buy video games and put in swimming pools. Through all the hard times economically for people, perhaps a positive is that it is making kids less greedy and selfish? It made my day to read those answers, honestly. Not that I am happy that things are hard, but it was such a nice sentiment-they still completely trust their parents, they want what's best for their families and others. Lovely.

2 comments: