Digital consumer rights to be taught in schools

Do I need to spend real money to do well when gaming? How can I tell a fake webshop from a real one? How can influencers on TikTok afford all the great products and the latest clothes? These are some of the dilemmas children and youths encounter online. Sometimes they are aware of them – and sometimes not.

A study has found that children and youths are generally more trusting than other age groups, and surprisingly uncritical in relation to online scams. The ECC Denmark network has therefore developed teaching material and exercises that can be used to discuss and teach about online issues:

“The material has been developed with the aim of equipping children and youths to handle the challenges they encounter online. We seek to make them aware of their consumer rights, so they can make active choices when exposed to hidden advertisements and scams,” says Lars Arent, Director of ECC Denmark.

Consumer rights and language

The teaching material is in English, and suitable for children who have studied English for more than two years.

The topics are:

• Digital consumer rights

• Online games

• Online shopping

• Scams and subscription traps

The material contains video content, lessons and quizzes to help children understand the traps they can fall into when simply playing a game or messaging a friend using various online services.

There is also a separate teacher’s guide, to make it easier to implement in teaching.

Background

European Schoolnet has compiled statistics showing the most common reasons why children contacted helplines between April and June last year: Cyberbullying tops the list, but questions about content and advertising, private data and gaming quickly appear as you go down the list.

Find out more and download the teaching material HERE