You may be shocked to learn what GTA students are willing to pay for the teacher’s wallet. This game jumpstarts important conversations about how we decide to spend our money – and who is willing to take risks in an unfair market.
Filmed at Met West High School by Julia Landau and Min Lee. Produced by Min Lee.
By Ramon Ortiz
Game Theory Academy (GTA) was a great opportunity for me to learn how to make choices that help me managing money. I was able to understand how to save money by not wasting it on unnecessary items. For example, some people buy new phones every month instead of keeping the same phone and saving the money for more necessary materials. In addition, I learned that it’s better to stay within your budget and not waste more money then you really have. For example, when you have a budget of $20 and what you want to buy is over your budget it will not benefit you to buy it because it exceeds your budget.
I go to Light House Community School. My goal in life is to go to college and become a businessman. My short-term goal is to get scholarships and save money for when I go to the college of my choice. Currently in school I am taking advanced classes.
The stipend I earned at GTA helped me over the summer because I was not able to find a job. I chose to wait until the last day of class to get paid so I wouldn’t end up spending all the money on little things like snacks that aren’t necessary. Today we got paid. I’m gonna save the money for something more important that I might need in the future. The most important thing I need to save for is college. Usually I just come by money in little bits, so it takes a long time to save up. GTA was cool for me because I got paid a $150 at once for the first time, so I’m motivated to save it.
By Ryan Nunnery
I’m a senior at Skyline High School. Most of my life has been about learning how to go from point A to point B, responding to situations constantly happening in life. Being in Game Theory Academy has helped me make better decisions, whether it’s choosing what route to take home, to making lifetime choices that will affect my future.
Arriving the first day of class, I had no idea what to expect. I figured we would have a large class setting, look at charts, do math work and sit through boring lectures. Turned out the class was small, making it easier to learn and get to know my peers. We learned about scarcity, the difference between socialism and capitalism, how entrepreneurs make decisions, and Adam Smith. We specifically focused on the three assumptions of Adam Smith’s economic theory: 1.) Everyone acts in their best self-interest all the time; 2.) Everyone has equal access to perfect information; 3.) Economic interests drives everything. What really stuck to me was assumption number one, that the economy will be efficient if everyone acts in their best self-interest. I never had anyone say that to me before. I hear all the time from teachers that we have sources all around us to educate ourselves, and I somewhat knew that money drives people’s decisions. That’s common sense. As we learned more about best self-interest and used it to relate to our lives, I realized that Adam Smith’s first assumption would carry through the rest of my life.
Everyday now, no matter what it is or what I’m doing, I constantly ask myself if what I am doing is in my best self-interest. It’s involuntary now; it just happens like some kind of secondary voice going off in my head. From the morning when I wake up, “Is skipping breakfast within your best self-interest, Ryan?” to when I want to leave the house, “Is it within your best self-interest to walk to the Bart station or get a ride from Mom or Dad?” Deciding lunch, “Is it your best self-interest to spend $5 on junk food or to use that money to by a fulfilling meal?” It even happens while I get ready for bed, “Is spending time on Facebook your best self-interest or is going to sleep early so you can be energized for work the next day is?” With all these questions, there’s an answer and a decision that I have to make. No matter what, that question is constantly going on, even as I write this. That one question is what’s helping me and the people around me become better people. I joke around with my friends when they make impetuous decisions and I ask them, “Do you think that’s within your best self-interest? What are the benefits and costs of making that decision?” They look at me as if I’m crazy.
The more time passes, the more I refer to these things I learned at Game Theory Academy, such as what would be the trade off of going to play tennis this weekend? I would be giving up time to do other things, but some benefits would be bettering my health and getting time to socialize with friends. The advantages outweigh the disadvantages so why not go play? It’s completely within my best self-interest to do so.
I use every last bit of the information I was taught at this class in my daily life. Yes, a financial incentive drove my decision to join. Yes, this information was equally accessible. And yes, taking this class was definitely, forever will be, and have been, within my best self-interest!
By Wayne Johnson
One day my brother, Bobby, and I met up after he got off work. He started telling me about this economics class that will pay us for attending. I thought about the money and was like, “Yeah, bruh, I’m coming.” Neither of us had been to school in awhile when we started attending Game Theory Academy (GTA).
At that time, I had been making decisions that put a negative impact on my life. I was in and out of jail for robbery charges and possession of illegal drugs. Money was hard to come by, so I chose to be a young hustler on the streets. Ever since I was born, the hood was my residence. The hood did give me some positive game – like school – but mostly what it gave me was negative. In elementary school I had good grades, but in middle and high school I had difficulty making it through. After the last time I got out of juvenile hall, everything was really hard for me. I dropped out of high school because I felt like completing any task was impossible.
On our way home from the first GTA class, Bobby and I talked about how interesting it was. We took the GTA advice about making decisions in our best self-interest very seriously. Bobby and I conversated about making choices that will better our lives. We talked about being a better man. We knew that continuing the life we were living could land us in the penitentiary or a casket or set ourselves up to be future bums. We both felt good about ourselves, learning about the economy and how to think strategically.
That was last year. This summer I took the Game Theory Academy class again. I wanted what I had learned to be fresh in my mind. I had missed a lot my first time because Bobby got shot, and I didn’t want to leave the house alone. I faced a lot of obstacles and distractions. I was worried that the dudes who shot Bobby would come look for me when I hopped on the bus to come to class.
Some time passed, and I was facing a whole lot of choices: enroll in University of Phoenix, join Civic Corps or just look for a job. I tried looking for a job, but it was taking such a long time that I just said forget it. I was worried that University of Phoenix would make me overwhelmed. I thought college would be hard, and I’d mess things up for myself if I didn’t comprehend the classes.
Civic Corps gave me a chance to catch up in school. I started out in their school program, to get my game up. I was late a few times, but I didn’t miss any classes, so they invited me to the job side. Now I work at Civic Corps five days a week and am taking classes toward my high school diploma. I get a paycheck and put it into my bank account every two weeks.
What I got from Game Theory Academy was the knowledge to weigh my options. I learned how to think through what I could handle now, until I can handle the next option. In the hood there is this philosophy, “Get it how you live.” That means, work with what you’ve got, stay true to the hood. My philosophy, now, is different: “If there’s something out there, go get it.”
Michele just graduated her third group of GTA students. As a self-proclaimed visual learner, Michele often comes up with creative ways to map out the decisions and questions posed by students as they plunge through the GTA toolkit in class.
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In GTA, we teach students that when you make strategic decisions, you start by setting a goal. Then, you choose a strategy to reach that goal that best reduces uncertainty of outcomes.
The GTA lesson on Opportunity Cost and Strategic Thinking is a fun lesson where everything we’ve learned begins to come together. In my last group, a student named Arai offered up an example that helped deepen everyone’s understanding of opportunity cost, trade-offs and strategy.
Arai, a bright young lady in her first year of college, shared how she had previously assumed that if she just a really good job on her homework, she would get an A in her college math class. While this strategy worked for her in the past, this didn’t work for a challenging college course.
I asked Arai if she had a strategy for how she was going to get that A. She did not. I turned to the board and drew a “you are here” box to make our discussion more concrete. As I mentioned, she had believed that doing all her homework would get her the A. When she failed a quiz, she changed strategies. “I can study my book and do all my homework,” she told herself. That helped a little, but she still wasn’t getting consistent A’s. I asked her what else she did to prepare for the class, and she mentioned actively seeking study groups and a tutor. Still, even with all of that academic support, she failed another test.
At her wits end, the semester was coming to a close, and Arai decided to do what most youth of this generation do – she turned to the Internet. She was able to find answers to her study questions online, and combined that with all her other tactics, she finally accomplished her goal of getting an A in this difficult college math class.
Through the whiteboard diagram of her decision-making process, Arai’s GTA classmates were able to see how after each of Arai’s decisions, there was plenty of uncertainty that she could not control. As she refined her strategy, she faced less and less uncertainty about the grade.
Mapping her decision-making process was also a great way to show the students how accomplishing goals hardly ever follows a straight path. Sometimes you have to test out strategies and revise several times before you get it right. Knowing how to revise your strategy is a much more valuable skill than trying to nail the right strategy from the very beginning.
This month we wrapped up spring classes in San Francisco at Conscious Youth Media Crew and in east Oakland at the Laurel Marketplace Learning Center. The youth in the GTA Investors Club also picked their stocks, and over the summer we will track the performance of their portfolio: So far they’ve lost $8.03. There’s no better lesson on due diligence than losing real money!
Favorite quotes from their evaluations:
“GTA contributes to my future success by leading me to see the world differently, by letting know know to think before I act.”
“GTA teaches me how to get on top and stay on top and manage my money while on top.”
Congratulations to all the young people who have seen their programs through to completion this spring. Stay in touch with us!
GTA’s founding concept was to provide the financial and decision making tools taught in MBA programs to young people enmeshed in the criminal justice system. While we have opened our doors to a wide range of youth in our first three years, only about 40% were on probation. We are pleased to be working inside juvenile hall at last, to recruit participants so that when they get out, they have more support to stay out.
The 19 young men who participated in last week’s classes at Alameda County’s juvenile hall – ranging in age from 14 to 17 – were enthusiastic about the curriculum and excited to have a paid opportunity waiting for them when they get released. We hope to report soon that many of them follow through on their interest. Below, find some great quotes from their writing assignment on decisions and take a glimpse of the notes one young man took during class.
“A decision I’m making is never coming back here. To make that decision possible they need to let me out so I can get to school. I just need the judge to give me another chance.”
“This class is cool because we, as in young people, need to learn about the economy. Also, because we need to learn more information.”
“I’m facing 6-9 months in boot camp. I understand it can help me, but I have a 4 month old daughter who I love with all my heart. I’ve missed a month of her life already and that hurts. I’m a smart kid, just less fortunate. I need to find a job so I can stay out of here.”
“Right now I’m facing a big decision on whether I should go to a placement or go home to my family. I’m going to come and do yo class.”
“The decisions I make every day have to do with school and money. I either go to school and risk losing money or don’t go to school and make money all day. I can’t really do both.”
Michele graduated her first class of students on Thursday, several of whom will stay involved over the summer through the GTA Investors Club. Michele is currently teaching a group in San Francisco at CYMC, and will start another group here in Oakland on May 19th. Congratulations Michele!
Just this week GTA was approved for membership in the Alameda County Community Assets Network (AC CAN), a working group of service providers and advocates working together to increase the income and assets of Alameda County residents. AC CAN’s mission is right in line with GTA’s mission to get financial information into the hands of the most economically vulnerable members of our community.
One of the AC CAN projects that we are really excited to be a part of is developing the Savvy Consumer Curriculum, a set of learning modules about financial products, like payday lenders, that educates and offers alternatives for people in need of those products.
Don’t miss the overdraft fees opt-in tipsheet or online banking menu on the AC CAN web site.
