Consumer education can cover money, career, domestic issues and more.
Consumer education may cover many areas of life, but it is generally aimed at helping young people learn the skills required to make use of their resources and manage their lives successfully. Consumer education typically involves managing money and finances, but there are many other possible topics. Since the goal of consumer education is to equip learners with skills, projects are an excellent format for this subject, as students can act out the tasks they will perform later in life.
Managing a Budget
Domestic money management is one of the key skills a consumer education program can focus on. Projects can involve giving students a total amount of income. Students should add up their home expenses and figure out how much of the funds should be allocated to necessities, such as food. The project could also touch on choosing services for the home, such as energy and telephone suppliers, as well as obligatory costs, such as taxes.
Returning Faulty Goods
Consumer education covers the rights and responsibilities in being a productive consumer, and can therefore explore rights as a buyer. A project could involve creating a role-playing scenario in which a student is returning a faulty product, and perhaps having to discuss it with the retailer. A more extensive approach could include purchasing the product in the first place, with an overview of purchasing rights.
Handling Debt and Savings
Both debt and savings involve similar calculations with interest rates, and these topics can therefore be studied as part of a project. Students may be given an overview of a person's finances, including income, debts and savings. They could then work out how long the debts will take to pay off when a set amount is paid per month.
Travel and Transport
One of the major expenses today relates to travel and transport. Whether people use public transport or run a vehicle, there are typically a number of different costs involved, so this can make a productive project. Exploring how much students know about the various costs involved in running car may be particularly useful.
Product Information
Purchasing projects can include having students find out about products by looking at labeling and other product information such as standards. This area can cover Health and Safety as applied to domestic and other products, as well as household issues, such as having work carried out in the home by skilled tradesmen.
Working Rights
Young people often do not know about their rights as workers, which can put them in difficult situations. Projects can include simulating a situation in which an employee is being harassed, or not having her rights respected in some other way. Topics can include holiday and sick pay entitlement, as well as dismissal and disciplinary procedures.
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