High School Holds Annual 'Reality Check' Event That Teaches Students How To Budget

How do you feel about your kids preparing for a life as an adult? Do you think their school is doing everything they can to get them ready? Sadly, I think most parents would answer "no" to that question.

Well, this one school realizes how essential preparation is, and they're actually doing something about it.

Yukon High School in Oklahoma holds an annual event they call a "Reality Check."

What the school does goes a little like this: The kids get assigned a random annual income and tasks to see what it’s really like to be an adult. Wow, I need to see this, ha, ha!

They have to visit booths such as housing, clothing, insurance, and child care to make virtual payments from their budget.

They must visit every booth, but they do have free will to make personal choices on how they spend the money.

Doesn't that sound like such a great activity?

I bet these kids have no idea how much things like these cost. Isn't this an excellent opportunity for the students to gain a deeper understanding of how their parents live on a day-to-day basis?

I honestly wish that my high school did something like this.

As a young person, I didn't feel as prepared for adult life as I thought. In college, we got offered a bunch of credit cards, and let's just say some of us went to town with them. Am I right?

If we were taught something like this at an early age, it would have been a lifesaver for sure.

This type of event puts things in perspective. I believe it sets young people up to make better financial choices in the future.

Some kids got $35,000 to spend, and they thought that they had it made.

Only after they paid all the bills, they ended up with $20 in their pocket. I bet that was one big surprise, to say the least.

When the school posted about this event on their Facebook page it got a lot of attention.

I have to say I'm not surprised one bit. Most comments were positive and encouraged an event like this. People wished that all schools followed suit.

To help students better understand the process, each booth had industry professionals answering questions.

I think that's such a great idea! The businesses volunteered their time and even learned some things from the kids themselves. Isn't that so interesting?

Wow, I'm very impressed with this school's approach to financial education.

I think this is one aspect that's lacking in schools these days. What do you think? Do you agree with me on this issue? Would you like to see this implemented in other high schools?

h/t Kids Activities Blog