Closing the Consequence Gap: Why Protecting Students from Financial Mistakes is Sabotaging Their Maturity

We often think the safest way to teach a student about money is to protect them from making a mistake with it. However, when we remove the "sting" of a bad decision in the classroom or the canteen, we aren't protecting the student—we are dismantling their behavioral immune system. This article explores why educators must close the "Consequence Gap" to move students from supervised literacy to independent stewardship.