Like most kids, my two enjoy watching YouTube videos. One of the more popular channels they consume is Mr. Beast.
Mr. Beast is a 24-year-old guy named Jimmy. He started his YouTube Channel in 2012 playing video games. As he slowly gained popularity, he got his first sponsorship. To show his thanks, he took the money from that sponsorship and gave it away, making a video in the process.
Over the last few years, his channel has exploded. He earns money from sponsorships, ads, and merchandise, and even opened up a burger chain. And in my kids’ favorite videos, he gives away money for simple challenges. A LOT OF MONEY!
- New Houses for relay games.
- A $2 million Private Island for completing a treasure hunt.
- $1 million for keeping a hand on a stack of money the longest or simply being caught purchasing one of his branded candy bars at a grocery store.
Many of his videos include simple challenges where he gives players lots of options and opportunities to gain advantages or win consolation prizes. This is where I started thinking about the influence Mr. Beast, and other YouTubers like him, have on our kids.
My Son Cleaned His Room, Mr. Beast Style
My 11-year-old son is usually very good at saving and investing his money. He’s got me constantly discussing it in the background. (Teach Your Kids About Money Early)
So he’s got a few hundred dollars saved up in his piggy bank at home.
He currently shares a bedroom with his little sister, who hates cleaning their room. When a friend of his came over to play, he commented on how messy their room was and that he could have it clean in 20 minutes flat.
The Challenge
My son, Pinto Bean, decided to take advantage of the situation to get his room clean without doing any work.
“I will give you $100 if you can get my room clean in 20 minutes!”
His friend actually accepted the challenge and got to work.
Over the next hour, my son kept the excitement (and cleaning) going using the methods he had seen on Mr. Beast-style shows.
“Beat me in a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors to get an extra 10 minutes!”
“If you can make a shot into the hamper from across the room, I’ll throw on an extra 5 minutes!”
He watched as his room got clean. They were all having fun and he didn’t actually have to do any cleaning himself.
In the end, it took his friend 1 hour and 9 minutes to get their room clean. My son happily gave him $100 and his friend smiled and cheered then ran home, excited about his win.
After Pinto’s friend left, we definitely had a discussion about the positive and negative aspects of his Mr. Beast-style challenge.
Gamify Important Habits and Goals
When my son offered his friend $100 to clean his room, that was a big incentive and got him excited to start. But after a few minutes, he started to become tired and discouraged. He was ready to quit, even with $100 on the line.
Pinto started to see his goal of a clean room begin to falter so he knew he had to make a change. By Pinto creating mini-challenges, his friend actually had fun cleaning and the job got done, even if it took a little bit longer.
We should all gamify when we have a big goal in mind.
Maybe you want to get out of debt. Make it fun!
Set mini goals and rewards along the way.
- Print out a Debt Payoff Coloring chart
- Set goals: percentages paid off, individual cards/loans paid off, etc.
- Create mini rewards for yourself: “Once the car is paid off, we’re having a banana split party”
- Build mini challenges into it: “We’ll do a ‘no-spend November’ and put all the money we save towards a lump sum payment!”
By taking something boring or hard and gamifying it, it becomes easier to stay motivated and actually reach your goals.
This can be done with everything from debt payoff or emergency savings to losing weight or getting a career certificate.
Throwing Around Large Amounts of Money Is (NOT) Good
Watching Mr. Beast, my son has started to gain a warped perspective of what certain things are actually worth.
After sending his friend off with $100 for 1 hour and 9 minutes of work, I asked him if he really thought it was worth it.
He responded that having a clean room was his goal. He had $100 to give and therefore it was a fine deal for him.
The media attention of rich celebrities and the Pinterest-worthy lifestyles of social media moguls have warped the perspective of many people.
“Keeping up with the Joneses” used to just mean going after the new Volvo or 30-inch TV your neighbor got last week. The neighbor that lives in the same neighborhood as you and probably makes a similar salary to you.
Now, we have so much access to so many wealthy people’s lives through social media that it feels like everyone is trying to “Keep up with the Kardashians.”
$100 to Jeff Bezos is not the same as $100 to Average Joe
The average American worker earns about $32 per hour. If they were to go out and buy a $30,000 car, that would account for over 117 days of work. This is IF they worked 8-hour days and did not pay a penny in taxes or other deductions. 117 days!
Jeff Bezos earns about $9 million per hour. If he wanted to go out and buy a $30,000 car, he could do it in a heartbeat because it would take about that long for him to re-earn it back.
Average workers do not have the luxury to think what they see on social media is the norm.
Too many young people see high-end kitchens, luxury cars, and endless 5-star travel and begin to think that’s what is needed to live a successful life.
Many start out their careers in their 20s and try to get little pieces of luxury, even if they can’t really afford it:
- Eating out at high-end restaurants
- Constantly shopping for decor or new clothes so their homes and closets look like what they see online
- Taking out huge loans to buy expensive cars or live in a penthouse
This trying to “keep up with the Kardashians” is dragging people into pits of debt. We need to talk with our kids to make sure they understand the true worth of a dollar or else we could be setting them up for a life of debt and disappointment. (Right-Size Your Life)
There Are More Ways To Make Money Than a 9-5 Job
Mr. Beast made a fortune by trying new concepts and building businesses. Many kids do not realize all the hard work and determination it takes to achieve the type of income required for Mr. Beast to run his channel.
Some of my favorite Mr. Beast episodes are those in which he explains how he grew his business.
More and more business owners are taking to social media to teach people how to grow a business or create side hustle income. (Hustle or Hassle)
While some influencers are just out for the money, promoting bogus courses or bad investment advice, a lot of them are actually breaking down the steps to create a successful financial future.
These people are encouraging others to look beyond the 9-5 lifestyle to build their own businesses or better invest for their future. Many careers are slowly being replaced by AI so this free information is more important than ever.
Just make sure to vet who you listen to. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Wrap-Up
My son’s Mr. Beast Style Room Cleaning definitely lead to some important discussions in our household:
– I was proud of him for coming up with a solution to his problem and actively responding to the concerns of his “employee” to get the most positive results.
– But I was also disappointed in how he took advantage of a friend to do something he was completely capable of doing himself (both time-wise and physically). And he showed a disregard for how hard we work for the money we earn.
In the end, his friend’s mother insisted the friend give back the $100 because “helping a friend is not about money.”
My son realized that the money sitting in his piggy bank was “burning a hole in his pocket” and that it was better to hide it from himself for better future needs. He made a $100 contribution to his brokerage account that day and we had his friend over for cupcakes as a thank-you instead.
What do you think? Have you seen kids positively or negatively influenced by social media? How so?
Leave a comment below!