Feature Story "Money Spending Habits Of Teens"

“What do American teens spend their money on?” I asked myself after my arrival in the USA. After a couple of days, I got to know Kathy and we started to talk about these things. Kathy is a sophomore at Sierra High School and just a regular teen like you and me. She loves hanging out with her friends and is sometimes pissed off by school. Just the typical characteristics of a teen.
A fact about her, which you do not notice on the first view, is that according to federal guidelines her family is below the poverty line. The poverty line for a five-member family amounts to less than $25,790 a year.
That is not fatal; it just means that her parents cannot pay for everything and they have to save money.
According to Heartsandminds.org, 15 million children in total live in poverty in the United States and according to nccp.org, 29 percent of Latina children live in poor families.

It is a well-known fact that teens, especially girls, love to go shopping. Kathy says that she loves shopping, but added that there is usually little or no money at the end of the month. That is why she is working at a restaurant, called Culver’s every Saturday and Sunday for 8 hours in order to pay for personal needs.
According to Pew Research Center, 76 percent of teens have a part time job over the summer and 48 percent keep the job once school starts.
“Most of the money I earn, I spend on shoes or clothes,” Kathy says laughing. This statement fits to the general spending habits among teens.
According to marketingcharts.com clothing, music and movies are the top three items on which teens spend money.
However, not only clothes are a reason for her to have a job; in exchange for being driven everywhere she pays her mother $40 each month for gas
“I don’t have to give my mom money, I just do it,” she says.
According to Pew Research Center, 56 percent of teens who have a job claim to work due to “family needs”.
“I do not like this job very much, but I have to do it. Otherwise, I could not buy things, because my parents cannot give me money. So I don’t have a choice,” she says.

In contrast to Kathy, there are teens, who do not have to worry about money.
One of my best friends in Germany, Henri Wehr, lived and most likely still lives a very easy and comfortable life. He always got the latest video games, wore the current clothes, and often paid for me and other friends when we went out.
“If I need money, I just ask my mom, and she usually gives me some,” the junior says. Although he gets $40 allowances every month, his parents pay for new clothes, his snowboarding season pass, other snowboarding stuff and give him money to buy gas for his scooter.
Henri says that his mother often does not even ask for the money’s purpose.
“So I can spend the money on things I want to,” Henri says.
According to Tagesspiegel.de, 70 percent of all German children and teens get allowances. The German government says that $50 for a 16-17-years-old teen is acceptable.
In contrast, in the USA “only“ 55 percent of all parents give allowances.
That seems to be unfair, but in fact, clothes and food, times on which German teens spend most of their money, are much more expensive than here.
But if the example of Henri Wehr is the right way to teach children how to manage money is questionable.
According to eltern.r-online.de, 10 percent of 20-24 years-old German youth have debt problems.
However, teens like Henri are single cases.
For example, the German Senior Lisa Schnittker says that her parents do not give her allowances.
“I have to see how I get money for clothes, make-up, and all the other things. That is annoying, but I think it is important to learn that money does not fall out of the heaven. You have to work for it!”
Her parents agree.
”We think if our children don’t learn early enough how to deal with their money, they will have huge problem when they grow old,” her mother wrote in an email.

These single cases like Henri Wehr probably exist all over the world, and teens like Kathy, who have to work, can be found in Germany as well.
“In general, Germans are used to get more allowances than Americans, but the spending habits seem to be the same”, is a generalization you could make about American and German teens.
Kathy agrees with this statement, saying that most of her friends do not get allowances, too.
And seriously, does is really makes you a better person if you get allowances?

Music Feature

I will write a feature story about how music affect small children/teens or adults. In this story i will include the thesis that classical music is good for the development of children, also known as the Mozart effect. I want to find out if this thesis is true and therefore metal/hard rock music has a negative effect on young children. "Does playing music affects teens' academics in positive ways?" is also one of the major questions i asked myself.

My primary sources will be teens who (don't) play music and parents who let their children listen to classical music or did that in the past. Their experiences could support my big picture.
Secondary sources could be experts and scientists who did research on connection between music, brain and behavior. Universities and their webpages may include interesting facts. Psychologists who use music in their therapies can be an important source, too.