Factors Affecting Philanthropic Behavior of Jewish Adolescents.

The article investigates children's philanthropic behavior in a Jewish school in the United States. Children ordinarily possess little money, and some way has to be found to give it to them before researchers, in turn, can study how they give it away. Some researchers circumvented this problem by asking children in the fifth through eighth grades to respond to a hypothetical scenario in which they won money in a game. They were given five choices; distribute it equally among themselves, give it to the person who scored the highest, buy something for the school, buy something for their class, or "buy something for some hospital child or some family needing help or for some other philanthropy." No consistent changes were found in children's willingness to donate as they grew older. The study was conducted in a Jewish supplementary school affiliated with a reform synagogue located in a suburban, Northern California community. The term supplementary school refers to a part-time Jewish school that conducts classes in Judaica and the Hebrew language. The school enrolled approximately 250 students, from kindergarten through the 10th grade. The majority enrolled only in the Sunday morning or Tuesday 'evening Judaica program, whereas others attended the full program, which included two midweek sessions devoted to Hebrew language instruction.