BBB Serving Greater Cleveland's Teen Smart program was launched in 2008 to provide financial literacy workshops and education to high school students. With the help of BBB staff, volunteers, and business professionals, we have provided hundreds of financial literacy classes, impacting thousands of high school students. Though our workshops originated for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, we are happy to offer these services to other high schools and groups throughout our five-county service area.
Financial literacy workshops
According to a study by FINRA Investor Education Foundation, there is a trend of declining financial literacy. On average, young Americans couldn’t answer a majority of financial literacy questions correctly. People ages 18- to 34-years-old had the sharpest drop in their ability to answer four of five financial literacy questions correctly over the years, declining from 30% to 17% in 2019.
Teens are full-fledged consumers, but many are lacking the basic financial literacy to assist them to make sound decisions. A 2020 Council for Economic Education survey showed that 70 percent of high schoolers in the U.S. had the option to take a personal finance course in 2019, but only 17 percent of students were required to take one. As teens become adults, they are at greater risk of falling prey to questionable offers, negative/costly buying experiences, and poor spending and credit practices.
TeenSmart Workshop Goal: To generate/heighten high school students’ awareness that basic consumer knowledge and skills are critically important to their future well-being.
The Class: The 40 – 80 minute workshop offers tools to help students make better buying decisions, recognize scams, and be responsible with their finances. This interactive presentation engages students using everyday marketplace challenges they face.