It’s 2019, Time to Dump Paper Chore Charts
Like it or not, everything is going digital. Even famous board games that at one time appeared to be safe from ever being played in your hand, are now one touch away. During a family vacation to Florida I was blown away to learn that I all I needed to survive three days at the most fun and overcrowded places on earth was a phone or wristband. That’s right, no wallet, money, room key or purses. I never felt freer!
I’m not sure why I was so surprised that technology had advanced to the point where this was possible, but though I’ve worked with technology for almost 20 years, I was. Yet more surprising was how many other vacationers seemed ok with the new option and embraced the freedom it provided. It made me wonder where else could technology help a family, and it didn’t take me long to find one.
The digital age is in full bloom and kids are connected to a phone or tablet much younger than ever before, however, there seems to be one place that still tends to hold on to the past – chore charts. The time of hanging something on a fridge or wall to get children to help around the house should be over. Does your child spend more time looking at the fridge or the phone in his/her hand?
It’s time for parents to dump the old paper chore charts and let technology streamline the effort. BusyKid is one of the frontrunners in the chore chart app industry and it has come up with some solid reasons why a screen is better than paper when it comes to chore charts.
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1. Kids Love Technology
If they aren’t already, your kids are going to connect to technology very soon. Not only will they love it, but they’ll most likely be better than you in using the apps and devices. Encourage your kids to embrace technology when you believe they are ready and start them using a platform like BusyKid to help them stay organized with their daily chores, and even, automatically deposit earned allowance.
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2. Make Time Matter
What your kids do when interacting with technology matters. More than half of teens (54%) say they spend too much time on their cellphones, and 41% say they overdo it on social media. According to Common Sense Media, teens spend an average of nine hours a day online, compared to about six hours for those aged eight to 12 and 50 minutes for kids between 0 and eight. Parents should reduce “social” screen time and introduce some productive apps (like BusyKid) that will give kids a dose of reality.
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3. Auto-Allowance
If you use paper chore charts every week you most likely reward your child in cash or by some other means. Still, you are not taking advantage of technology that would allow you to do this automatically. Thanks to peer-to-peer financing and other financial advancements, kids can have earned allowance available to be saved, donated, spent or invested with the push of one button. No paper chart can do this!
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4. Teach Money Management
In 2017, 70 percent of parents admitted to paying their children allowance, however, only 21 percent of parents talk regularly about money and only 10 percent know how to teach their children about investing or how to manage credit cards. Having a chore chart hanging on the wall won’t help educate your kids either. Again, that’s were technology can provide hands-on experience and valuable information kids will need to know to be financially sound adults.
Paper chore charts served a great purpose but replacing them should be an easy decision. Whether your children are 4, 14 or 24, technology is already playing a huge role in their everyday life. Introduce a chore/allowance app to their device that will help prepare them for life as an adult. If you’re ready to make the switch, choose BusyKid, since we offer an investing option, and VISA Prepaid Spend Cards to help teach your kids about managing invisible money.
