More and more children don't know money, it's not a small thing Beijing News Quick Commentary

Beijing News

2024-06-02 17:24Posted on the official account of Beijing News

▲Data map: Employees of the Beijing Fuxingmen Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China are showing the fifth set of RMB in the 2019 edition. Photo/Xinhua News Agency

"Isn't the money in the phone?" With the development of the times, people have less access to cash, and more and more children do not even know money.

According to media reports, some veteran teachers with nearly 30 years of teaching experience have reported that this situation of not knowing money has become more and more obvious among the first grade students in the last five years. Not only do children not know money, but they also don't know how to use it, and they don't understand the concepts of "exchanging money" and "finding money". In primary education, the lesson "Understanding the Renminbi" is becoming more and more important.

The lack of daily contact leads to fewer opportunities for cognition, and the phenomenon that children do not know money is closely related to the current social changes. According to the People's Bank of China, by the end of 2023, the penetration rate of mobile payments in mainland China will reach 86%. In reality, many children may have only seen 100 yuan a piece of New Year's money during the Chinese New Year, and they have even fewer opportunities to see other denominations.

However, this does not mean that it is normal for children not to know about physical money. In the growth of teenagers, if there is a lack of intuitive feelings and specific cognition of money, its potential impact cannot be underestimated.

Although today's adults are also accustomed to looking at numbers, they have experienced first-hand feelings about more money and less money when they grow up. 10,000 yuan is a thick pile in reality, but it is a number on the mobile phone screen, and the intuitive feeling it gives is completely different.

Today's children's initial cognition of money is numbers, and they naturally lack specific cognition of "how money is spent" and "how money comes from", so that they will produce "how can money be 'spent'?" Isn't the money in the phone? Brush it and you'll have it again! Such a realization.

For example, in the huge online game recharge phenomenon reported by the Beijing News some time ago, the reason why some children often recharge tens of thousands of games is that in addition to the platform and parental responsibilities, I am afraid it is also inseparable from their own lack of basic money consumption concepts.

If you have no concept of more money and less money, and you don't know how easy it is to make money, it is naturally difficult to establish a cherishing and respect for money. This is not to say that digital payment should carry this "pot", but it is always necessary to establish a more reasonable view of money and financial management by intuitively understanding money from an early age.

Objectively speaking, if you want to educate children about money and financial management, it is difficult to find a more suitable starting point than physical currency. Teaching children to understand the renminbi also helps them correctly understand the legal tender status of the renminbi.

At present, with the popularization of digital payment, there are more refusals to accept cash in real life, but cash is the most basic payment tool, and cash service is also the most basic financial service.

Digital payment is the trend of the times, which is also in line with the development process of human currency from shells to gold, silver and copper, to paper money, and then to virtual currency. But when children's concept of money comes mainly from mobile phones, their perception of money and wealth is bound to be very different from that of the previous generation.

Just from the perspective of balancing this drastic change, children should also be guided early on to understand cash and use it appropriately. In the long run, it is also necessary to help a generation establish a correct view of money, consumption and financial management.

Written by / Xin Haiguang (Media Person)

Editor / Chi Daohua

Proofreading / Zhang Yanjun

View original image 84K

•