Program Aims to Help Young People Avoid Filing Bankruptcy

A former judge met with high school students to teach them about avoiding debt.

As more younger people find it necessary to file bankruptcy, students at a California high school got an education regarding handling credit cards and debt.

The seminar was put on by Springboard Nonprofit Consumer Credit Management along with John Hargrove, a former judge at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of California. The Credit Abuse Resistance Education initiative works to teach young people about responsible credit use and living within the scope of their finances.

Hargrove said younger people may be using credit cards in a nonchalant way, which increases the chance they may run up debt they can't pay off. Doing so can hurt their prospects later in life, including the ability to get a mortgage or obtain a job.

"The CARE Program is designed to prevent them from ever seeing the inside of a bankruptcy court," Hargrove said.

Recently, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California reported the number of people filing bankruptcy increased during the first four months of 2010. Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings were up 42 percent, while Chapter 7 saw a 45 percent rise.