The eighth-graders in Randee Green's class at Mifflin Elementary School, Lincoln Place, know something about the value of money, at least when it comes to skiing. Having spent much of the year organizing bake sales, candy drives and other fund-raising schemes to finance their wintertime trips to Seven Springs -- and then depositing the money in a savings account kept by Green -- they know how much it costs to rent boots and skis.

	Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette Leah Donahue of Citizens Bank uses stickers to give second-grade students at Mifflin Elementary School an economics lesson. Click photo for larger image.

"And they know that $10 doesn't buy much food there," she said.

But on a sunny spring morning last week, all that financial savvy melted away in the face of a new problem presented to them by Randy Bittner, an assistant vice president at Citizens Bank: How to live on a budget of $100 a month.

A genial man dressed in a sober dark suit, Bittner walked the class through a curriculum provided by Junior Achievement, "Econ and Me," which teaches students the rudiments of economics, business and personal finance. Initially, the mood was gleeful as each child went through the motions of getting a job -- choosing a career (NASCAR driver, comedian, Pirates shortstop), scanning want ads, drafting resumes and sitting through interviews.

But once they got to the part about managing their new salaries, it was all downhill.

No, Bittner told one dismayed student, $20 a month won't cover it for food, since grocery bills take up far more than one-fifth of a person's monthly income. Another student looked shocked when Bittner told him that taking out a 30-year loan on a $100,000 house meant he would end up paying three to four times the original cost of the house, since the bank has to make money on that loan.

Life, in short, costs a lot more than a one-day trip to Seven Springs.

Bittner's appearance was part of a program sponsored by Junior Achievement and Citizens Bank to teach financial literacy to local grade school students, and is one of dozens of efforts nationwide to enhance young people's personal finance skills -- since, experts say, parents aren't doing a very good job of it.

Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette Second-grade students at Mifflin Elementary School follow instructions from Leah Donahue, one of several volunteers from Citizens Bank teaching children in city schools about business, economics and personal finance. Click photo for larger image.

In an age when pricey youth-marketed gadgets -- $250 portable Playstation2's, iPods and Air Jordan sneakers -- are flying off the shelves, many of America's children appear to have inherited their parents' "I want it now" attitude toward spending.

In fact, children age 8 to 19 spend more than $100 billion a year on consumer items, according to a recent Harris survey. Spending on electronics, in particular, is soaring: up 15 percent in 2004 over the year before, according to the National Retail Federation.

Where is that money coming from? While some of those children may have bought those Playstations with cash earned from long hours mowing lawns, baby-sitting or constructing hamburgers at McDonald's, the retail federation's same survey found that fewer than half of students going back to school last fall would be spending their own money on back-to-school items.

Many children are just lucky to have "pushover parents," who say yes to anything, say some experts, and those parents, who may themselves be in debt, are just passing their own bad habits on to their kids.

"The world has changed," says David Hunt, an Atlanta-based designer of software aimed at teaching children how to manage money. "We're not the parents our parents were, and as the consumer culture has accelerated, it's become harder and harder for mothers and fathers to say no."

But teaching children how to control impulsive behavior when it comes to spending is one of the most important lessons they'll learn, he added, citing the work of Harvard researcher Daniel Goleman, author of groundbreaking studies in emotional intelligence. Goleman found that the ability to delay gratification correlated more strongly with success in life than mere IQ.

But with $2 billion being spent each year in advertising for children under the age of 5, it's getting harder to get that message across.

Parents, of course, know they're doing a bad job teaching their kids financial literacy. A recent Visa survey of 1,000 families found that only 2 percent of parents surveyed said young adults are "very prepared" to manage their personal finances responsibly, and that most believe young people learn the most about finances from "the school of hard knocks."

Tonya Holloman, an assistant in the provost's office at the University of Pittsburgh, is determined her daughter Taja won't learn about money that way. Holloman started working at age 15 and always bought her clothes and school supplies with her own money. She has already started teaching the basics of money management to Taja, a seventh-grader.

"Actually Taja has some odd jobs and is very fiscally responsible," said Holloman, who noted that her daughter, a budding golfer, is trying to move beyond baby-sitting for income and get a job caddying at a local golf course.

"I believe you need to teach kids early about money, and how needs are different from wants. Although," Holloman added with a laugh, "Taja likes to spend my money, of course, while she saves hers."

Taja is 13, but parents can start educating their kids at even younger ages. John Arnold, a teacher in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, just opened a savings account for his daughter Hope, a first-grader.

"She was very interested in going with me to the bank with her money. Now, when she gets monetary gifts, she decides how much she wants to spend and how much she wants to put in the bank."

It's having an effect on Hope's spending habits, Arnold said. "Just a few nights ago, she went with her mom to see a production of 'Beauty and the Beast,' and Hope wanted to get a light-up rose as a souvenir.

"My wife offered to split the cost with her, which meant Hope had to think about the value of what she wanted, because it was no longer 'free' from Mom."

"Of course," he added, "in the end she chose to buy it."

Beth Mormer, 14, of Squirrel Hill, was recently given her own savings account and put on a monthly budget of $95 by her father. The money, which she can withdraw with an ATM card, covers most expenses except for camps, youth group fees and sports.

"It's definitely made me more careful about how I spend my money," Beth said, noting that the first few months were difficult, especially for her younger sister Natalie, 10, who immediately went out and spent $40 on shoes and found herself scrounging for the rest of the month.

"We thought it sounded great at first, but I think once it hits you that $95 is all you'll have, you really do think about it before you buy. I would like an iPod, but I don't want to blow all my money on it because I won't have anything left."

While the Mormers use a real bank, there are limitations to that approach, especially for younger children, since many financial institutions don't allow those under age 16 or 17 to open checking or savings accounts unless they are joint accounts with parents.

There are other alternatives for younger children, however, beyond piggybanks and allowances. Software such as "Family Bank" can be installed on home computers to teach children how checking, savings and loan accounts work. By using a "virtual bank," children as young as 6 can get in the habit of "banking" -- after parents have deposited the child's weekly allowance in an "account."

The guiding principle is that for children to get money from the bank -- their parents -- they must write checks from their account. Transactions are recorded in the online accounts, enabling everyone to keep track of what is spent and what is saved.

Regular allowances are fine, if they work, said Hunt, who created the "Family Bank" software.

"Allowances work for a while, but without regular maintenance it's like a car without an oil change that eventually breaks down. Parents find themselves giving in and giving up."

As a result, many 20-somethings enter college or the working world blowing their paychecks or maxing out their credit cards on designer handbags or electronic gadgets. Consider the numbers: An estimated 78 percent of college students are carrying large loads of high-interest, unsecured, credit card debt, according to statistics kept by Nellie Mae, a federal college loan program.

And while "bank in school" programs or one-day tutorials on financial literacy by well-meaning experts may register with some students, in the end it is the day-to-day example set by parents that leads to a financially savvy child, says Katie Lederman.

A sales consultant for an audio-visual company, Lederman bought her first house at age 23 with $25,000 she saved herself, and has just purchased her second house with her fiance.

She is 26.

And for that kind of financial success, she credits her parents.

"The only reason why my brother and I have good jobs and aspirations is because of them," said Lederman, who grew up in Pittsburgh but now lives in Orlando. "I grew up watching my parents put money away and invest for the correct things and not spend money on what was unnecessary. If we wanted a brand new car, or expensive makeup, we got a job and we had to earn the money."

Lederman may be an exception rather than the rule.

Most parents just don't realize that each day presents a "teachable moment" for financial responsibility, said Randee Green, the Mifflin Elementary School teacher who watched as her students struggled to figure out how much to budget for food expenses each month.

"They're young," she noted, and "the fact is, they don't have a clue about these things. When parents take their kids to the grocery store, the kids are usually below the age of 6. Eighth-graders usually don't go along, and the parents probably don't want them to because they'll probably end up with a lot of stuff they don't need."

But if parents "take them and show them the ropes, then they'll learn. Kids get what they're given, and these days they're not given very much information about the cost of the real world."