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 From A Press Release Book Description The motivation to create Ticket-A-Kid (The Education Citation) was inspired by my own children. I found that on most evenings, even before saying "hello" to my family, I would have to travel around the house picking up toys and clothes, turning off lights, the television, etc. I thought, these were things that should be done everyday, automatically, and especially Not By Me! I asked my daughter to turn off the television and lighting in the basement, because she happened to be watching television in the living room! And so, it went. After months of repeatedly asking my kids to make an effort, to use their common sense, and to Save Me Some Cents, the final straw was broken. I came home and my son, who was watching television in the basement, had left all his lights blazing away in his empty room! That was it! I grabbed a pen and a piece of paper, I wrote his name on it and right below it, I wrote DUE - $1.00. I handed this to him and he asked "what for?", completely unaware of his wasteful actions. I told him it was a fine for leaving his lights on. Also, I told him he had to pay me immediately out of his allowance, and he did. This felt a lot better than raising my voice and repeatedly nagging, which I find doesn't work the best, causing resentment and negativity in the house. That evening I had a "family meeting" and my wife and I explained to the kids that we will be issuing "citations" in the same format as a parking ticket, if these certain wasteful actions continued. At this point we added other possible violations and fine amounts. The issues didn't always involve the house. Many of them -- such as whining, not doing homework, talking back -- were included, as we felt they were important issues to teach RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY, and COMMON VALUES while saving for them. Here is how: all the money that we collect is put into a jar and at the end of a certain time frame (in our case, the School year), it is used for educational supplies or put into an educational bank account. Just as any town collects and uses its funds for repairs and improvements, we collect and use the funds to help build a strong character and saving money, in a positive, FUN way. So, when creating Ticket-A-Kid we used the same format as an actual Parking Ticket. Just as one may receive for an unpaid meter. It is a two-part, carbonless booklet in which the ticket is written out, the hard copy is then given to the child, and the parent's receipt is left in the booklet. In our case, at the end of each week, before our child's allowance is given to him/her, we deduct for any violations he/she may have received. There is also a CREDIT on each Ticket that can be used any way you see fit. For us it has been used in cases such as receiving a great score on a test or an excellent report card. Also, the ticket may simply work as a warning, thus creating awareness, but not deducting from allowance. Since we have been using these Tickets, we noticed great improvements with our children's level of responsibility. Who knows, maybe by the time they are of driving age they will have learned to feed that meter and not park in front of the hydrant! Buy: Ticket-A-Kid Return to the Dr. Laura Reading Corner |
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