I happened upon a great article by Julie Silard Kantor from the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship. She writes about the foundation's mission to educate low-income youths, the high dropout rate (1.2 million) and the effects of teaching kids entrepreneurship.
When we think of exposing kids to the business world, we tend to think that it's a topic they are far too young to comprehend or something they don't need to be involved in at such a young age. Let's let kids be kids, right?
But teaching kids entrepreneurship is so much more than outfitting a kid with business cards and letting them dabble for a day as "business owner." Not only are kids exposed to a menagerie of important skill sets, but it's an opportunity to be creative in a relatively free-flowing environment. Furthermore, preparing our kids to lead independent, productive lives is a major component of youth entrepreneurship, just as much as it's a valuable component to our economy.
Kantor writes, "Many also fail to see the correlation between the health of the economy and the people who have a vested interest in its health: entrepreneurs."
Kantor continues with the fact that the US high school dropout rate could be positively impacted if entrepreneurship is introduced to kids early on. John Bridgeland's research in The Silent Epidemic reports that 81 percent of high school dropouts said they would not have left school early if the subjects being taught had more relevancy to life.
Go beyond the obvious benefits of entrepreneurship and the skills sets learned like decision-making, risk-taking, creativity, financial management, strategic planning, etc., and look at what it can do to heighten one's self-esteem. If you ever started a business as a kid you know what I mean.
When I created Biz in a Boxx, I didn't have any of the information on hand to support the value of entrepreneurship. I was 20 when I started by first real business and I remember everything it taught me. I remember walking on the UA campus with a stack of fresh business cards my dad had made for me and feeling as though I could conquer the world. I had no idea what I was doing, but the feeling was empowering and life defining. The data I have found fully supports everything that Biz in a Boxx is designed to do.
Check out Kantor's article at http://bit.ly/8vJR82.
For more information about youth entrepreneurs and how you can set a foundation for child's future, click here.
