Many adults have voiced their thoughts and opinions on the financial crises, but what do future generations think about the current crisis? From November 3-11, 2008, JA conducted a voluntary online poll of nearly 800 high school students across 25 high schools in the Denver-Metro area. These teens were asked about what they thought and felt about the financial crisis, and how they felt their futures might be impacted.
Many students left comments regarding the impact of the crisis is having on themselves and their families. One student from Eaglecrest High School explained that “Hopefully this financial crisis ends really soon, because my family is trying to keep up with the economy the best way they can and they aren’t getting any younger. I just hate seeing my folks working so hard just to stay ahead of things.”
In the survey, 49% of respondents said that they felt the financial crises would have a negative impact on their households, while 17% believed their families would not be affected. The remaining 34% did not know if their families would be affected or not.
For those looking to learn more about the financial crisis, JA has two white papers (a student and an adult version) titled “Understanding the Financial Crisis: Origin and Impact,” by Dale R. DeBoer, Ph.D (Department of Economics - CU-Colorado Springs). These informative white papers address laymen’s terms our economic situation, its causes, and what the future might hold. If you would like to read one of these white papers, click here to visit our resources page.
For a summary of the JA Teen Financial Crisis Poll results, please e-mail us at sjankowiak@jacolorado.org.