English 102 - Spring 2009

A major problem with the ever growing population of the elderly is their children's financial literacy. It is important that the children of aging parents are proactive and get involved with their parents financial matters. Children need to be aware of the government funded programs as well as the financial strategies that their parents can qualify for based upon their age. There are often outside factors that contribute to complications of sorting out financial documents and dollar figures and children of the aging need to be aware of these issues as well as the help that is available to them.

Many teenagers today have access to credit and debit cards and until recently, there was little parents could do to monitor and restrict their children's spending. Hernandez has identified a new prepaid card by Discover that aims to give parents more control over their children's spending habits. The prepaid card allows parents to restrict and actively monitor their teenager's credit card use. For a small monthly fee, parents can effectively control all aspects of their child's card and even restrict purchases of inappropriate material. Discover's prepaid card offers parents and teenagers an opportunity to enjoy the conveniences of a credit/debit card with relative safety.

The authors discuss how college students' overreliance on credit cards and accumulated student loans have left many graduates with outstanding debt and poor credit scores. Credit card companies aggressively solicit college students, who are enticed by the power a credit card grants. Upon graduation, students with large sums of debt may find it difficult to find a job or rent property due to poor credit. To counter this surge of irresponsibility, the authors propose colleges create programs to educate students on how to use a credit card responsibly. The problem with creating more programs is universities must spend extra funds to create and maintain such an initiative. The authors fail to propose an early education curriculum for younger children to immerse them in the area of personal finance.

Financially literate people are imperative to an economy because they make good financial decisions that help stimulate the economy. The author emphasizes the need for individuals (especially low income families to write out a written budget monthly. Consumers should establish emergency funds, practice good saving habits and have knowledge of investment funds. Through the surveys conducted in the article there is a correlation between knowledge of financial practices with and financial achievement. The author emphasizes the need to expand on ones' personal financial knowledge in a way befitting to the individual.

Expansion of the internet and market innovation have lead to national economies and the deregulation of banking with a changing economy. In an ever changing economy like the United States individuals must constantly keep updated and improve their level of financial literacy, be aware of changes in personal finances and demography and obtain current knowledge of mortgage lending practices. Financial literacy programs such as first time homebuyer programs, basic financial literacy programs, and savings initiatives have been established through private and public funding to increase the financial literacy of the public. The effectiveness of some of these programs has not been concluded, however, individuals have stated that after completing the programs they felt much more confident in making investments.

A survey conducted in 2004 by bankrate.com shows that the average United States citizen scored just 66 percent on a financial literacy test. The test was based upon twelve basic financial topics that were considered fundamental knowledge that all people in a capitalistic society should know. Individuals, who were not determined to be financially literate, stated that they were aware of their problem but never sought help. Individuals who were determined as most financially literate and most financially illiterate showed common characteristics, none which included any connection to gender.

This article talks about the way radio stations and record labels are censoring their artists and albums. Some artists are force to remove songs from their albums, create edited albums, or even refuse to play certain artists. It also talks about how many albums containing derogatory terms and drug references are not sold in certain stores and not played on certain stations, despite the censorship which might aid in the literacy of younger listeners.

The author here talks about the impact that Marshall Mathers, known as Eminem in popular culture, has had with his derogatory lyrics. It speaks about the use of derogatory terms in reference to race instead of culture. It is an article about the persona Eminem puts on with his raps and lyrics, and the real meaning which is underlying throughout the derogatory terms and crude ideas.

This article discusses the use of slang by different ethnicities. It discusses the concepts of whether or not slang can be pinpointed to certain cultures opposed to a certain group of "slang talkers". It also helps distinguish between slang being used as a barrier between teens, adults, social groups, and even differences between friends. This helps to illustrate the different varieties of literacy among youths and adults from different cultures.

In this article, Lloyd discusses whether censoring musical artists is really profitable for the businesses. It talks about the crossroads presented in censoring when talking about business opportunities opposed to their civil liberties of protecting today's youth and supporting proper literacy among youths.

This journal discusses the use of inappropriate terms and derogatory terms in popular television. It discusses whether or not the content ratings presented were or were not affective in decreasing the amount of offensive language used in prime time television. It presents a study of one week of television in three separate years in a seven year span. It also addresses the per hour percentage of offensive terms or actions from each station examined.

This article discusses the origin and use of profanity during prime time television with respect to children and programs more commonly viewed by children. It also exposes the idea that violence and aggressive behavior can influence the actions and thinking of children in today's society. Lastly, it discusses an analysis of prime time viewing and the profanity and violence portrayed in commonly viewed shows.

This paper discusses the use of English slang by a South African community of Gauteng. Although English is not the preferred vernacular used by most occupants of Gauteng, this study shows the way slang identifies different cultures, races, and social groups among even the African youth who speak English.

In this article Aitchison discusses the origins of slang and the use of "ugly language" by today's youth and school children. It talks about the use of slang to distinguish different subcultures and social groups. It also delves into the subject of words changing meaning and different uses for relatively simple terms. And finally, it discusses how some older individuals attempt to connect with today's youth and adapt to their forms of literacy through using slang and popular words.

This is an article that describes a financial literacy program in Queensland. The company Ethical Investor has created a play to help educate students on financial literacy. In the play students learn through the main character that is successful because of his financial literacy.

Due to the economic problems of today's society, governements are looking for possible solutions to help solve this problem. This article discusses steps that governements in the United Kingdom have already started. The most important of these steps is financial literacy education programs that are being implemented.

This article is an overview of a financial literacy survey done by the company Jump$tart. The survey involved questioning high school and college students across the country. The results show that although college students literacy is a little higher, in general this target age group has low financial literacy.

In this article the authors discuss the reason for lack of financial literacy among young people in today's society. Their main argument for the lack of financial literacy is a student's not having motivation. Research shows that this is true for students even after taking part in a financial literacy curriculum. The authors were able to find data to back up the point that lack of motivation leads to lack of financial literacy.