youthmoney

A moral dilemma about money appears every week in Martin Lewis’s money-saving expert newsletter. Some are forced or seem a bit naff. But all have the potential to trigger useful discussions, depending on the group of young people.

Here’s a couple of recent ones:

Should Lucky Luke give back his hardship grant?

Lucky Luke is a student and struggling horribly to survive, partly as he doesn’t manage his money well. He applied for a hardship grant from the limited Uni fund and has been awarded £1,000. On the day it goes in his bank account, to celebrate, he buys a lottery scratch card (part of the reason for his poor finances) and wins £5,000

Relevant dilemmas don’t have to put the young person at the centre. Here’s one that invites them to think things through from other people’s points of view:

Would you shop your teenager?

Whilst withdrawing cash from an ATM you notice £750 is missing from the account. A quick check online reveals the money was spent a few days ago at djdecksdirect.com; your fourteen year-old son’s favourite website. He admits using your debit card to make the transaction online and has already received and used the goods. You have bills to pay and simply can’t afford to write off that much cash but the only chance of getting it back is to admit what happened to the bank and give it a crime number, which means reporting your son to the police.

Even if the dilemmas themselves don’t raise much interest, the comments of some of the forum members might….