Parenting in Progress
BY KATHIE RALEIGH
Buy low, sell high is their mantra. They have the Dow Jones Industrial Average on their smartphones, and they understand short selling.??
These young women, however, are not seasoned investors; they don???t even have high school diplomas. They do have babies ??? and goals. They???re working hard to earn that GED and learning how to be good parents at the same time.
??
They also are dabbling in the stock market, theoretically at least, by playing the Stock Market Game.
??The young women are enrolled in Parenting in Progress (PIP) at YWCA Rhode Island, a program that for 32 years has been giving pregnant and parenting teens and young adults a way to complete their high school studies. PIP provides day care for the babies while the young mothers take classes in academics and in child care.
Now, thanks to volunteer Alessandra Borges of Woonsocket, a retired teacher and longtime member of YWCA, they also are learning how the stock market works, what that means to the country — and to themselves.
??
???Financial literacy is so important,??? Borges says.
The Stock Market Game is a free educational program offered by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), an industry trade group representing securities firms, banks and asset management companies.
Each year, about 600,000 students nationwide compete at elementary, high school and college levels ??? and it is a competition: whoever makes the most money wins.
Borges learned about the Stock Market Game as a teacher in the business department at Central Falls High School where she led teams to four statewide wins ??? twice coming home with first and second place.
Students, working in teams, start with $100,000 in ???play??? money to invest as they choose. In the PIP program, students invest two ways: in stocks from a recommended list and also ones from companies with names they recognize.??
The students talk about the wisdom of investing for the long term, but they also know, ???Don???t put all your eggs in one basket,??? says Erin Lariviere, 17, of Woonsocket, glancing at all the red in the stock market figures on her smartphone at that moment. However, she???s learning how a downturn also is an opportunity.????
???Because we???re trying to win at all costs, we do short sales,??? Borges says. ???I tell them in real life I???d never short stocks. You???re betting the company will not do well. It seems almost un-American, but it???s a strategy.???????
Money-making strategies aside, Borges emphasizes there are other lessons inherent in the Stock Market Game. Most obvious is basic math.
Bringing the game to YWCA was a natural progression for Borges, who has been active at YWCA Rhode Island since she and her son, Adam, now 34, took part in YWCA???s Jumping Beans exercise program for mothers and toddlers. She later joined the Mothers of Preschoolers group and made friendships that continue.
???Both my children went to preschool and summer camp at YWCA,??? she says, and 12 years later, her daughter Amy, now 31, was back as a preschool volunteer.
Borges currently serves on YWCA???s board of directors