College Scare Tactics for Teens

I found this to be a sure-fire way to explain the importance of a college education to a teenager who knows it all. It's not enough to just have "the talk," these kids need visual aids!

I was sitting with my 14 year old son discussing his future plans. He tells me that he doesn't see the need to attend college! He thinks graduating and then getting a job will be enough...silly boy. I explain to him about the cost of living and that in order to truly make enough money to survive comfortably is to further his education. Nowadays it's not enough to just work for somebody else.

With every answer being "but daddy does it and you guys are okay," I needed to find a way to explain it to him so he would really understand. Then it hit me...the newspaper! I sat him down at the kitchen table and spread the newspaper out in front of him. I turned to the real estate section. I told him to look at the pictures and pick one that he liked. Now, living in New Jersey, the prices of homes are pretty outrageous. He chose a beautiful "mini-mansion." I pointed out to him that the house cost $875,000. He continued to scan over the next couple of pages, not being able to find anything under $400,000. A look of confusion came over his face.

I then flipped the pages to the classified section. I asked him what line of work he thought he might end up doing. "Something with cars," he answered. So I proceeded to show him the pay rates (the ones that would actually list the ridiculously low hourly rates) of every job listing in the auto section. When he saw that the average hourly rate was between $8 and $10 per hour he started to do the math. Figuring out basic 40 hour weeks with what the gross yearly income would be. I then explained to him about TAXES! I told him that the figures he was coming up with isn't what these people bring home. Then I asked him what he thought the owners of these businesses were making if they were paying the employees such little amounts. All I heard was a "hmmmm."

Still a little confused, I went a step further. I gave him a break-down of mortgage payments, taxes, insurance, daily expenses and utility bills. Based on only a $250,000 home and the going rate of pay for what he thinks he wants to do, we came up very very short! What I was saying started to sink in. He told me that he didn't think it would be smart to work for someone else. Now he wants to own his own business.

During the next week or so he brought home paperwork for his classes for next year. On this paper, which needed my signature, were all college prep classes with accounting, marketing and business law checked off for his choices of electives. I thought to myself....WOW! It worked! He told me that while sitting with his guidance counselor he explained to him what I showed him. He has also shared with many of his friends and I've had a couple of their mothers thank me for explaining things the way I did. I hope this can be of some help to other parents of teenagers, to show them the big picture, so these kids won't have to struggle in life.