Cha-Ching Money Smart Kids (And some other Rockstar TV stuff)

Ogilvy Public Relations invited Rockstar and I to a presentation of a new tv program on the Cartoon Network called Cha-Ching, but we were in Adelaide even during the rescheduled lunch/ screening date, so we never actually attended any of their publicity stuff or received freebies for this… I heard it was a tv program meant to teach little kids some financial smarts about saving and I wrote in asking for more information. So in the interests of still coming to the party, though really late, Have You Seen Cha-Ching?

My biggest reservation was it’s aimed at ~6-12 year olds on the Cartoon Network. Rockstar at not-yet-4 has never actually watched the Cartoon Network before. He gets “wind-down tv” or “Mummy needs you to leave her alone for 15 mins so she can change and send you to school tv” or “Eat your dinner you’ll get some tv tv”. (Never say, “after nap tv” – when his mind is fresh, he gets jigsaw puzzles or Lego or occasionally interactive iPad stuff – Explore Africa, Word Bingo etc.) While the concept of Cha-Ching was attractive, I worried about Rockstar’s wish to stay on and watch the next (and the next and the next) less educational cartoon, whatever that might be.

However I do try to look for learning/ communicating opportunities in tv. Because yes experts, I know tv for kids is bad, but between me possibly going insane and yelling at Rockstar bouncing off the walls and me letting him watch a little tv, I figured tv is the lesser evil. A little tv may be good for my relationship with my child <cough>. So yup, I am huge FAIL in the zero-tv (I know mums who managed) movement, but I do try to adopt the same attitude as towards food – I will not be able to keep every chip and cookie out of Rockstar’s reach forever, so lemme work on him seeking out the wholesome stuff.

Anyway, Cha-Ching on the Cartoon Network. It’s a program developed by Prudential following a survey, conducted by them, of parents in Asia that identified only 13% of parents thought their kids had “good money-management skills,” vs 95% of parents who thought this to be a necessary skill (I like looking at stats, for a few more from the Pru survey scroll to end of post please)

In the press release, Cha-Ching is dubbed “Asia’s First’-Of-It’s-Kind Animated Musical Edutainment Series (to help) parents build money-smart values for kids,” and is developed with edutainment consultation out of New York.

There is a free Cha-Ching Pocket Money Manager iPhone App (downloaded it, like the graphics, except Rockstar doesn’t receive pocket money yet though I know some kids his age who do – one mummy friend told me she fired her helper after (among other things) realizing the helper had been convincing her son to give his pocket money to her – Rockstar’s more on reward points/ favors he chalks up in a kind of barter system, redeemable for Mr Men books, Lego, or the chance to be taken along with us everywhere – to dinner parties, cell group, grocery shopping etc.) And if you are, like me, not a Zero-TV Parent, you can catch the video here:

Ok, Test Drive Time:

Without telling Rockstar anything about Cha-Ching, and bearing in mind he has never been given an allowance before, I play the Youtube videos for him.

After the first 2.5min clip, which is mostly a song about growing money and not blowing money:

Me: So, did you like it?

Rockstar: <smiling> Yes!

Me: What does it teach you to do?

Rockstar: Blow money!

Me: Uh… You’re supposed to grow money and not blow money.

Rockstar: That’s what I said! Grow money! I said grow money! <pause> What’s blow money?

Me: It’s spending money all the time and on things you don’t even really want. You’re supposed to grow your money so you can buy bigger things you really want.

Rockstar: Like a big Mc Queen car!

Doing the Rockstar Test Drive with an Aji Ichiban rice krispy snack

We watch the second clip, and Rockstar asks to see the iPhone App. (I couldn’t find the Entrepreneur one, so he locates and opens up the Pocket Money App by himself immediately, and we have a conversation about (well, not allowance, I hadn’t thought about that yet) his upcoming birthday gift money.

Me: We can start you off with a bit as a birthday gift, and then you grow your money by keeping track of chores you can do for your parents.

Rockstar: Ok can I have HKD 200 (to spend) for my birthday please? (I was thinking HKD 500 because we’ve been talking to him about replacing his BMX bike which he has fallen from so many times it barely pedals straight and one handle bar is broken with a sharp edge sticking out but ok 200. He inputs it by himself, then messes about until he’s called up the screen for chores and asks me to read/explain)

Me: That’s where you put down what “work” you would like to do for your parents to earn more money. Like when you mess with the calculator on Mummy’s phone. <thinking> darn I’m not prepared to talk this through with him yet, I was just gonna show him the clips first.

Rockstar: Ok. <pause> I want to serve you guys drinks in the morning!

Me: Umm ok, Mummy needs to discuss with Daddy how much to pay you for chores. And you need to decide what (bike) you want to buy for your birthday and then check the price so you can work toward that goal.

Rockstar: Ok! <still wants to mess with the App but I’m not ready so I distract him with dinner>

Verdict: To be honest, I was surprised Rockstar picked up that fast from watching the first clip and then discussing it, we have not discussed actual money-budgeting before. In fact I stopped the conversation so I could be better prepared – didn’t expect him to start firing off questions so fast. In other words, I found the clips a pretty useful starting point for Rockstar and I to have further conversations. I’ll be checking out the Parents tab on the website, with home activity ideas too, we have a one week school break coming up where we are not going anywhere because Kings has started work…

I also liked that the clip had subtitles (more on why below), and while the characters are talking, simple, illustrative diagrams appear in speech bubbles above their heads to further enhance the message… So, while it’s probably meant for slightly older kids than the Rockstar, he seemed to not get too lost (except when the song goes Don’t blow money blow money blow money after which he only remembered Blow Money and forgot the Don’t in front of it, first time he watched it)

Ps: Usually Rockstar gets BBC’s Numberjacks, Mr Maker, KerWhizz, Nina and the Neurons – with encouragement to narrate to me some of what he’s watched. On DVDs (which I prefer), I switch on the subtitles. That’s from hearing about how Finnish children often taught themselves to read before starting school because they watched American tv with Finnish subtitles. THERE’S an interesting use for tv 🙂

(That’s not to say we love everything on BBC’s Cbeebies though – there was one time I got so annoyed when a cartoon depicted a character wanting to fly. He made a pair of wings and launched himself off a second-story balcony. And – get this – he didn’t hit the ground and smash his skull, he started soaring up and down on the homemade wings even as his friends all cheered him on. The reason I don’t know for sure if that was from Everything’s Rosie is because every time I see similar-looking characters on a cartoon, I now change the channel. This is how pissed I am with that program.)

And here are a few more stats from the Pru survey (the ones I found a bit more interesting especially where the Hong Kong parents’ numbers diverge from the regional numbers (regional meaning Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand) about parents’ ‟perspectives on their children’s money management skills”):

1) 96% regionally; 80% in Hong Kong receive regular pocket money

2) 94% regionally; 89% in Hong Kong want to get more involved and are looking for tools to support their financial education efforts, preferring TV and the Internet as a medium for using these tools.

3) Average age regionally that kids start saving money is 6 years regionally, 5 years old in Hong Kong.

4) 26% regionally; 8% of parents in Hong Kong would oblige children’s request for more money when they asked for it

5) 59% regionally, 74% in Hong Kong said their kids already had a saving habit, based on their parents’ advice to save

6) 38% regionally, 71% in Hong Kong don’t regularly track their children’s money

7) 59% regionally, 79% in Hong Kong say their children understand the importance of helping through donations

8) 8% regionally, 12% in Hong Kong thing their kids keep track of their spending.