Third-grade teacher divides opinions after revealing she charges students weekly ‘rent’

A North Carolina third-grade teacher caused a stir after revealing that she charges her students rent to teach them hard lessons about spending money.

Shelby Lattimore has shown her social media following the unique way in which she runs her classroom, and it has left millions stunned.

To teach her kids about money management and the 'hard life lessons in 3rd grade', Lattimore demands rent from her students.

In a clip that has gone viral on TikTok with over 9 million views, Lattimore showcased the renting system she uses.

In the clip, she is seen asking her students whether they are aware today is the day they pay rent and asked each of them to pay the $5 dollars expected.

Now, before you get out the pitchforks, it isn’t real money, but rather fake money for her classroom.

Students are expected to pay for many of the essentials of school learning, things like their desks and their pencils.

Lattimore, who often shares videos to her TikTok page, has explained that the children earn money from doing classroom jobs.

Jobs included are teachers assistant, line leader, door holder, recess basket handler, lunch basket handler and even a cleanup crew.

Interestingly, maybe moving a little close to reality, not all the jobs are paid the same, according to Lattimore.

“The jobs that are every day, like line leader and teacher assistant, like those jobs that you have to do something constantly, get paid more than jobs that are like every now and then or once in a while,” she explained to NBC News.

She noted that when the children get money, they have the options to spend it on rewards for candy or a homework pass, or they can save it for use later or prizes that cost more money.

Lattimore said the top prize is ‘being teacher for a day’ for $30.

“They do have to budget for that one, but they love the responsibility of taking attendance, telling them when to get in line, when to get up, things of that sort,” she added.

While some social media users were apprehensive about the strategy, others praised the TikToker for her attitude towards teaching young children the importance of money management.

“I think it’s so cute when teachers teach kids how to spend responsibly,” one user wrote.

“This is sooo good teaching kids how to budget, should be mandatory in all schools fr,” another added.

“Man I wish I had a teacher like this bc no one ever taught me anything I learned most of this myself not even family,” a third wrote.

“I hope you’re appreciated as you should be. This is awesome and so are you,” another simply put.

However, not everyone was as impressed, with some expressing concern over the children being too young to be burdened with money worries.

"That's cute and important and absolutely needs to be taught in school, I just think 3rd grade it's a little too early 4 kids to start worrying about money," one said.

While another suggested: "Maybe use something equivalent to money like numbered stickers or something so it's more innocent."

Topics: US News, Education, TikTok

Gerrard Kaonga

Gerrard is a Journalist at UNILAD and has dived headfirst into covering everything from breaking global stories to trending entertainment news. He has a bachelors in English Literature from Brunel University and has written across a number of different national and international publications. Most notably the Financial Times, Daily Express, Evening Standard and Newsweek.