What's Monopoly Without Money?

A British version of the board game Monopoly will no longer come with fake money. Instead, each player will be given a debit card to track their balance. Instead of having a "banker", players will simply swipe their debit cards to add or subtract from their accounts. US-based Hasbro, Inc., is planning a similar change in the not too distant future.

Although it makes sense in today's society (I admit, I rarely use paper money), I'm saddended to hear this. There is value in teaching children how money works, especially the act of personally counting money to cover costs and exacting change. Simply swiping a card removes the most valuable educational aspect from the game.

And the game will certainly lose something, with no one imaginatively stating "wouldn't it be great if all this money were real!"