ECC-Net Provides Teaching Materials for Young Consumers
As children and teenagers spend much of their time online, they come into contact with dubious online offers at an increasingly early age. In some cases young consumers are exposed to marketing tricks that incur unforeseen costs, other risks or even fraudulent schemes. To counteract this trend, seven ECC-Net countries have teamed up in a joint project to produce teaching materials for schools to promote consumer education among the youngest and most vulnerable consumer groups.
The joint project was started by the European Consumer Centres of Austria, Cyprus, Greece, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovakia and Sweden as part of the European Year of Youth 2022. During this year a vast spectrum of activities encourages young people to participate in making Europe a greener, more inclusive and more digital place.
With their active presence on the internet and social media, many adolescents exchange data and personal information openly and shop online as a matter of course. Although young consumers are often technologically adept, studies show they are surprisingly uncritical when encountering online risks and traps. The ECC-Net campaign addresses some of these everyday online threats that present themselves in the lives of children and teenagers.
Increasing online literacy in a playful way
The joint efforts have lead to the following teaching tools:
- An animated video aimed at an audience of slightly younger children and teenagers (between around 11 and 15 years old). The video addresses threats in mobile games, such as unwanted subscriptions and hidden costs. The clips shows children in different situations getting in trouble for accepting such offers while gaming.
- A quiz game aimed at a slightly older group of teenagers, who are even more active online. The trivia quiz is divided up into four sections, which deal with online gaming, online shopping, digital rights on social platforms and scams and subscription traps. The quiz is available in an interactive online version and as a download for print-out.
- An instruction manual for educators, filled with best practices and additional information.
Teaming up with teachers
Given that the quiz and video are both offered in English, will likely prove most useful during English lessons. As curricula and types of education differ throughout the EU, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact age group of the target audience. We therefore rely on the assessment of teaching professionals themselves to evaluate which grade levels will benefit most from the materials, based on their students’ individual progress in English.
The content actively encourages students to discuss the issues at hand in class. During the lessons students will improve both their ability to make informed decisions about the ubiquitous temptations of the Internet and their language skills as well. The latter point is especially important given dominance of the English language in the online world.
Whether students watch the clip, take the quiz or both – in class or on their own initiative – the project team is confident that the materials will sensitise young consumers to the less welcome consequences of online activities and will improve their understanding of these matters. We are convinced that having fun while learning is the best motivator.