Bar Associations
Teens Learn of Financial Pitfalls in Boston Bar Program
Posted May 6, 2008, 11:13 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Boston teens are being invited to watch mock bankruptcy hearings in federal court in a program designed to show the consequences of taking on too much debt.
The program, sponsored by the Boston Bar Association and the federal bankruptcy court in Massachusetts, is a “personal-finance version of ‘Scared Straight’ for teens,” the Boston Globe reports. More than 100 bar association members volunteered this year for the five-session program. The lawyers teach high school students about saving, budgeting and other financial topics, then the students visit the bankruptcy court in the final session.
At a recent mock hearing, a woman told how $40,000 in credit card debt ballooned to $83,000 because of late fees and finance charges.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Joan Feeney presided. "Bankruptcy judges have realized in the past few years that there's a gap in education, that many high schools aren't teaching students about personal finance," Feeney told the Globe. "We've decided to fill that gap."