Teaching Teens About Credit and Credit Pitfalls
 Bankruptcy Court and Boston Bar Expand Program  

BOSTON, March 6, 2007 -- Two years after a joint task force of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Massachusetts and the Boston Bar Association (BBA) concluded that rampant financial illiteracy among young people can result in poor credit scores, foreclosure, and bankruptcy -- and launched what is now known as the M. Ellen Carpenter Financial Literacy Program -- the Court and the BBA today announced the expansion of the program.  First conducted on a pilot basis at a high school in Dorchester, MA in the spring of 2005, the program last year expanded to South High Academy in Worcester, and this year will include South Hadley High in western Massachusetts.  The program is also an integral component of the BBA Summer Jobs Program for high school students in the Boston Public Schools.

"Our ultimate goal is to help prevent bankruptcy," said Chief Judge Henry Boroff.  "My judicial colleagues and I look forward to seeing the high school students in our courtrooms for a mock hearing; this is far preferable to seeing them years later in dire financial straits."

Taught by lawyer volunteers, the program is divided into 5 modules:  Personal Finances, Budgeting, Using Credit and Credit Cards, Financing a Car, and Consequences. 

The Consequences module provides students with the opportunity to meet with a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge and learn about what happens during the consumer bankruptcy process. 

"We like to help students understand the true cost of credit, and we talk a lot about learning how to make distinctions between what we need and what we want," Janet Bostwick, the bankruptcy lawyer who co-chairs the task force – along with U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Joan Feeney -- that developed and manages the program.  "Comprehending the true cost of credit is also essential in making smart decisions involving the use of credit cards, and later on in life knowing how to evaluate mortgage offers."

According to Bostwick, the program has become so popular that this year schools were required to participate in a competitive application process, and the program received more applications than could be accommodated.  Participating schools in 2007 in the Boston area will include:  Brook Farm Academy (West Roxbury); Charlestown High; Madison Park High (Roxbury); Milton High; and Peabody Veterans Memorial High.  Participating schools in Central/Western MA are South High Academy in Worcester and South Hadley High.  The program has also made its curriculum materials available to other groups; this year the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Rhode Island will use the materials to run a similar program in Rhode Island schools.

"Credit is an integral part of our economy," said Judge Feeney.  "Expanding the program maximizes our opportunity to teach young people how to make sound credit decisions before they head off to college and may make choices they could live to regret."