Learning the value of money

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Opinion / Liu Shinan

Learning the value of money

By Liu Shinan (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-09-05 07:18

A photo published by the People's Daily newspaper last Friday touched me
greatly. A school boy of about 8 or 9 pulling two large sacks - almost
the size of himself - of empty cans he had collected to his school as
part of his "summer vacation homework".

The Dongfeng Primary School of Yuyao city, Zhejiang Province, had asked
the students to collect empty pop-top cans and plastic bottles during
their vacation. They would be sold to raise money to help students from
impoverished families continue their education.

The school's move is commendable. It was obviously designed to help the
kids develop a compassion for the poor and a love for manual labor. More
significantly, I think, the "homework" will teach them how hard it is to
earn money.

Nowadays, children in urban areas are mostly pampered and spoiled. Their
parents will satisfy whatever wish they have. They never worry about food
and clothing and are never short of pocket money.

A survey of school children in China, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam
conducted in 2004 indicated that Chinese children of urban families had
the largest pocket money allowance, about twice or three times that of
their Japanese and Korean counterparts. During Chinese lunar New Year
holidays, a child can receive thousands of yuan from grandparents, uncles
and aunties in addition to their parents' gifts. But they never bother to
think how the money has been earned.

When the children in Dongfeng Primary School counted the money they got
from selling the empty cans and bottles, they must have realized how
valuable each jiao (1.4 cents) was. A pop-top can is priced at two jiao
at salvage stations. Supposing a large sack can contain 150 cans, then
the boy could have earned 60 yuan. That is about - to say the least - the
weekly allowance he may get from his parents.

By recalling how much effort and time he had spent to collect the scraps,
he will acquire a new understanding of wealth. He probably will develop a
habit of thinking twice before spending every yuan he gets from his
parents. And he will develop a deeper gratitude for his parents' love.
This kind of appreciation seems to be weakening among children.

A story posted online not long ago set many people lamenting about some
of our children's lethargy toward their parents' loving care. A junior
middle school boy in Wuchang, Hubei Province, sent a cell phone message
to his father asking for money. The message contained only three Chinese
characters: Dad, money, son. Though cell phone messages tend to be short,
nobody would believe the boy would be so terse when exchanging messages
with his friends.

A local teenager study society in Wuchang surveyed 5,586 primary and
middle school students and found that 65 percent "often vented their
anger" on their parents and 70 percent "never helped with household
chores".

Our country ranks only 112th in the world in terms of per capita GDP. We
are genuinely a developing country. We need several more generations'
hard work to catch up with the developed countries. While resources on
this globe are diminishing with each passing day, competition among
nations for development is intensifying. Can our next generations
shoulder so heavy a responsibility?

We have no reason to be pessimistic for there is no evidence that our
kids have become that incapable. But we do need to be alert to the
unhealthy tendencies that have been found in some children and do
something to address the problem. For example, frequently placing them in
moderate ordeals to steel their wills.

Email: liushinan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/05/2007 page10)

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