my interview with alma powell on what they're trying to do to turn that around. an estimated 160,000 students are too afraid to go to school every day. why? and let's fix it. but first, paying the bank to use your own money. by now, you have heard that bank of america wants to charge a $5 fee to use a debit card. it is a trend. citibank moved to end free checking and chase in some states will be charging similar purchase fees. consumers as you might already know are not very happy about it. greg mcbride is an analyst at bankrate.com and legal ger at fortune. people are so mad and we all know that free checking is dwindling. that's down from 76% two years ago. the answer if you hate the fees is community banks, credit unions, not for profit by the way and stays to stay with the bank and avoid the fees but maybe only if you have money, investment accounts, maybe a mortgage. how do you avoid the bank fees? >> well, i think that's the main point, christine. we are not hostage to these fees. proactive consumer can avoid them. the thing of free checking is even though we have seen a decline in the availability without strings attached we have seen an increase in the ability to get that fee waved and oftentimes sometimes direct deposit is enough to do that. by all means look at the smaller community banks, credit unions, online banks as alternatives and as far as the debit card fees, resort to other methods of payment. if you pay in full every month, the credit card reward programs are far more generous than the debit card side and i think it's important for consumers to assess what's best for their situation and act accordingly. >> do people really walk? a lot of people have been complaining over the last week but the dirty little secret is banks know by our own behavior we 'll go to an out of network atm and pay and not cam plain. we keep going for the atm fees. do we really cancel our big bank and try new ones? >> well, there's always been a disconnect between intent and follow through. the intent is certainly there. 64% of americans told bankrate.com they would consider switching institutions if their checking account fees increased. however, again, people don't always follow through on that. however, people are dialed in to this topic enough i think there's a greater inclination to change now than years in past. >> lee, maybe they said they would walk but they didn't. this time is different. this is kind of a tone deaf move by the banking industry right now. i'm going to call it tone deaf because people are very, very doing ri. if you have a relationship with banks, it is more trouble but a day and a day and a half of phone calls and e-mail sending and end that relationship. >> it costs in bank of america's case $60 a year and tone deaf is probably an understatement. looking at what's happening with occupy wall street -- >> they would say it's evil. not tone deaf but evil. >> that's gaining credibility that movement. this is just the worst time to do this. i think if there's a time a customer walks from the bank, this is the fee to do it. this is hard to do. the banks have tentacles in our lives but i think this may be the one to push it over the edge. >> as greg points out, the more tentacles with the bank, the more likely you talk yourself out of your fee and they want your paycheck and do our online banks, pay your mortgage through them. so, maybe it's just going to take -- can i talk to your supervisor please? greg, lee, thanks so much. the outrage continues, of course, on those bank fees. that's more information about why. every 26 seconds a student drops out of high school. my interview with alma powell on what she and her husband the former secretary of state are doing to turn that around. recession tv, pawn stars to job whisperer. is reality television getting too real to watch? that's all coming up. in america, we believe in a future that is better than today. since 1894, ameriprise financial has been working hard for their clients' futures. never taking a bailout. helping generations achieve dreams. buy homes. put their kids through college. retire how they want to. ameriprise. the strength of america's largest financial planning company. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you, one-to-one. together, for your future. ♪ i have to be a tree in the school play. good. you like trees. well, i like climbing them, but i've never been one. good point. 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[ woman announcing ]bsite there's an easier way. create your own small-business site... with intuit websites. choose a style, customize, publish and get found... from just $7.99 a month. get a 30-day free trial... at intuit.com. success and education is one student at a time. the stats for dropouts are grim. one young person every 26 seconds drops out of high school. let's focus on the people dedicating their time and talents to fixing that. alma powell is chairman of america's promise alliance, the partnership focused on the well being of young people, founded by her husband general colin powell. good morning. thank you for joining us this morning. >> good morning. it is such a pleasure to be with you this morning. >> you come from a family of educators. your father and uncle were high school administrators. you know success is one school at a time. >> that's right. >> what works? >> what works is communities coming together and bringing all of their resources to bear on the needs of young people. in this conversation about education that we're having, we have to realize that it's just not the school that is important. it is the whole child's needs that are important. and, good school systems are address all of that. >> with these high dropout rates, what do you say to parents whose child is in danger of quitting school? what is the message to kids who are borderline. >> to kids who are borderline, we try to give them the confidence that they need to help them know that they are the future of the united states. you really are important and you have a place in this society. and we will help you take that place. >> you know, mrs. powell, the former governor of west virginia said recently what people don't realize is that poor children in america are this country's future. how we get kids educated the same education and make our public school system the great equalizer will determine what happens to our country. is it as serious as that? >> it is every bit as serious as that. the children of today are the new future of tomorrow. at present, we are in danger. it is not just an economic problem. they cost over the course of their lifetime every high school dropout will cost $319 billion to the economy so there's an economic issue. but it's a security issue, too. today's young people, 50% of them, cannot qualify for military service. the military has to turn young people away because they are -- nobody who is -- not a high school dropout can become a part of the military. >> right. >> and even those that are, many of them are unable to pass the test that you have to pass to join the military. and they're also physically unfit. >> my goodness. >> so that's a security issue that we've all got to address. we have got to look at this whole picture. >> a lot of work to do and you found communities looking at the picture. you unveiled the 100 best communities for young people. what are these communities doing right? what are the common denominators of towns and communities who are lowering the dropout rate and gives kids the education that's good for the country and for them? >> they're focused on the success of their young people. they have different ways of approaching the problem but the essential thing that they do in their communities is surround the young people with what we call the five promises. caring adults. healthy start. safe places to learn and grow after school. help with marketable school through education and encouraging volunteerism to give back to the community. this makes a whole child and so in the 100 best communities they are encouraged to show us in the applications how they have approached all of these. and it's a matter of the entire community coming together. the school community, the business community, the faith community. >> right. >> everybody coming together. >> all right. thank you so much for joining us, mrs. powell. very nice to meet you this morning and thanks for all of your good work on this subject. we'll talk to you again i hope soon. >> thank you very much. it is a pleasure. no child should be afraid to go to school in this country bring but an estimated 160,000 of them every day because of bullying. what are schools doing to stop that? that's next. women men and uh pandas... elbows mmm [ male announcer ] wanchai ferry, try it yourself. lysol disinfectant spray and...a toy drum. hiya folks, so the other day i tried to buy some camouflage pants but i couldn't find any. 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[ male announcer ] e-trade. investing unleashed. the nascar nationwide series, i know pleasing fans is a top priority, 'cause without the fans, there'd be no nascar. just like if it weren't for customers, there'd be no nationwide. that's why they serve their customers' needs, not shareholder profits. because as a mutual, nationwide doesn't report to wall street, they report to their customers. and that's just one more reason why the earnhardt family has trusted nationwide for more than 30 years. nationwide is on your side. american schools have become social battlefields. it happens every day across the country. arising to the attention of 1600 pennsylvania avenue. >> it's been shown to lead to absences and poor performance in the classroom. and that alone should give us pause since no child should be afraid to go to school in this country. >> that's right. every day an estimated 160,000 kids are scared to go to school and stay home because of it. rosalyn wiseman wrote the book on bullies. stewart green runs new jersey's bullying prevention basis. your book was the premise of "mean girls." what makes the bully? >> it is not the meanest girl or biggest boy on the playground. what we know is there's a masma amount of kids targeted for being different and piled on by kids and the vast majority of bullying is a competition, social competition where targets and bullies are fluid and makes it incredibly difficult for teachers and parents to identify it. it looks like all of us. >> stewart, it is interesting, stewart, with e know that fixing this is complex from control of the classroom to supervision of the playground and rewarding peacemakers, takes a lot of different things together. until now we haven't done a good job of this and parents think this is a rite of passage. you have to be tough. this happens to everybody. >> yeah. i mean, we are really despite the laws and the attention to the issue, which is all good, we're still at the beginning 0 of addressing the issue adequately. i sometimes compare it to the civil rights movement. you have a situation in which you're getting laws, you're getting some changed attitudes. you are raising expectations in parents and kids hurt by this. you're getting anger but in terms of adequate action to really make things better for kids in schools we are at the beginning more than at the middle or end. >> i think some schools think they can bring in a speaker once a quarter and did their due diligence to be a good kid, be a peacemaker, solving problems. >> that's a very famously ineffective thing to do. what you need is to have a comprehensive approach to this in the school and then you can have the equivalent of a pep rally or a sort of rally an you don't need outside people to come in and do that for you. in fact, it can be harmful because if you have these auditorium programs in a setting in which kids are not adequately safe and supported and engaged in the school it's hypocrisy and gives a message we the adults are on top of this and it's up to you and go back to hallways that aren't safe. no one shots. >> will the laws fix it, rosalyn? if we make laws, will the behavior of children change or the way parents -- schools have a lot of work to do. this is on top of all the other things they have to do that many principals say they don't have the money to do. >> we have laws about violations of civil rights, being harassed but bullying needs to be something we agree about as a standard. that we'll not support in schools. with that said. we have to be really careful because we need police officers. if we're going to allow police officers to come in to the school based on anonymous reporting, those police officers must be educated about being in a school environment. >> right. >> they have to be really understanding of what anonymous reporting and the complications of anonymous reporting can happen and be abused and if we do that then that makes sense. >> stuart, we are looking at the states with anti-bullying laws. new jersey has the toughest. you say there's still work for everybody to do. >> laws basically, whatever their details are just the statement by society, by government, by community groups that we want schools to pay more attention to this. i agree with everything rosalyn said, of course, but the emphasis needs to be on schools. schools is where almost all bullying takes place. yes stuff happens in the home but the myth of bullying is occurring in bad families and bad communities and bad kids and leaks the way over to the pristine confines of schools. that's not so. bullying is -- schools are where almost all bullying arises and the behavior of adults who run and staff schools as well as parents involved with the schools who determine whether bullying occurs. >> all right. >> so the focus needs to be on schools and laws help keep that focus there. >> stuart green, thank you so much for joining us. rosalyn wiseman, thank you. forget the bling. the big bank accounts and the botox. the new reality on tv is all about, get this, reality. we'll explain, next. n enter tra. on the run. even futures and forex. complex options? 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[ male announcer ] its design inspires. its power impresses. it's thin, light and built without compromise. but mostly, it acts like my personal assistant on set. unlike my real assistant who isn't quite as thin, light or powerful. ♪ he's right there, isn't he? designed with the 2nd gen intel® core™ i5/i7 processors, performance you need, style you want. visit dell.com this week and check out our october signature event for great offers on our best systems. everyone has their favorite reality shows, whether it's "dirty jobs," the jersey shore or "deadliest catch." but reality shows are taking a new turn that hits a little closer to home for millions of out of work americans. take a look. from the kardashians to the housewives and the millionaire matchmaker. >> okay, girls, ready to ml meet the millionaire? >> we know americans love shows about people with money. but when did watching economic struggle become entertaining? >> now, reality television is reflecting something so major that's going on in virtually everybody's lives, the economic downturn opinion. >> call it recession tv. there's pawn stars. downsize. >> okay. if it's over the limit here. >> american tickers. >> a lot of people look at this stuff as their savings account like, hey, i bought this, i think it's worth more money. >> repo games. a & e network just shot a pilot called job whisperer, a show about finding a job, and even sesame street introduced millie, a puppet struggling with hunger. so is reality tv becoming too real to watch? >> there will always be the escapism type of tv, whether it's scripted, whether it's reality, where people are just frivolously spending money and having a lavish lifestyle. sometimes we need that. but i think when redefining what life is as a middle class american and they're getting that information from tv. >> for now, many americans will dream of a fairytale wedding through our tv set. so recession tv, pete dominick is the comedian and host of series economic standup at syracuse university. robert, what's your take on this new type of reality show? i'm going to be honest with you, i really like to watch horders. because you know what? it's so weird. you're looking in on a slim sliver of society that you just can't stop watching. job liwhisperer, that's quite interesting. >> yeah, well, i like horders, too. but i usually have to clear stacks of newspaper from my tv to see the screen. you know, i'm not sure that this has anything to do with -- well, it has something to do with, but i think everybody thinks, we're in an economic downturn and suddenly it's causing all of these kinds of programs. i'm thinking of the honey meerns and "rosan" and "queen of a day" which were very, very popular shows about people in some economic hard times and those played during good times and bad times. i think one of the reasons we're seeing things like repo games is that it's compelling to watch people, you know, see somebody pull up to where their car is being repossessed, and have a game show as to whether or not they're going to get their car paid off. frankly, i think if that would have been introduced at the, you know, peak of the stock market, it would have been a popular show, regardless. the same with the fantasy about, you know, finding -- or making money by having something in your attic that's worth a lot of money, pawn stars and all that kind of stuff. >> american pickers. >> and a number of other shows like that. that's a fantasy that i think makes good programming and i don't think we need the recession to explain why it is that this stuff is doing so well. >> you know, pete, it's interesting, the american pickers are from my hometown in iowa, believe it or not. they are the most famous guys in eastern iowa. >> what does that say about you? >> they knocked me off the ladder. but i have to tell you, some of these shows are pretty entertaining. and there's something about the money in the end, finding a hidden value or helping somebody find a job or marrying a millionaire. are we o obsessed with money? >> of course we are. it's america. capitalism makes you think you're going to be a millionaire. that's why people play the lotto. they never win, but they know somebody who did. america needs to take their medicine and understand thou vast majority of the world lives. robert vasser is great. i want to tell what people should be watching. >> what should they be watching? >> they shouldn't be watching the kardashians. they shouldn't be watching the jersey shore. >> it's like watching animal planet. it's about courting and love. >> if you're terrible, talking about terrible, terrible people. >>. >> we should be moralizing about the social fabric of america. teaching them how to behave, those are terrible role models. i never thought that television or films or arts in general should neverly be guided by good role models. romeo and juliette were not good role models. the sopranos were not good role models. >> but people glamourize the mafia and people want to be like these people on the jersey shore. that's what i'm talking about, the dumbing down of america because we watch those things and robert, don't we oftentimes replicate that behavior in our society? we love to watch people get voted off of things.. that gives us some pleasure. that's sad to me. >> well, we do. a lot of reality tv has a heavy dose of mockery built up into it. that does not reflect the most noble part of the human spirit. but it does reflect a part of the human spirit. i have to say that sometimes when i watch the bachelor and i feel superior to the goofy behavior on that -- oh, dear. >> i have to say there is a person's pleasure in that. especially if i couldn't go to disney land because i'm unemployed and -- >> i should turn down the reflective beat. >> you did not. >> yes. >> well, it was the bald bachelor and i'm married, so there would be problems. >> you didn't qualify on a thousand counts, robert. >> it's unrs