Children Learning ‘Dangerous’ Money Lessons from TikTok

The social media platform TikTok has become incredibly popular with children and particularly teenagers, and it certainly helped to pass the time during lockdown for many people, who have had fun recreating dances and watching videos to offset the boredom.

 

However, there is also a concern about some aspects of using TikTok, such as the way that finance and investments are glamourised to younger audiences. Financial experts are now concerned that children are learning most of their information about finance through TikTok, where cryptocurrencies and get-rich schemes are heavily advertised.

 

Videos with the hashtag #Investing have accumulated over 2.3 billion views and with schoolchildren spending so much on their time watching TikTok videos, a large majority of their information is coming from this channel. This is particularly the case during the school holidays, with more time to spend on social media apps.

 

With clever marketing campaigns to entice people into becoming amateur traders, there is a concern that teenagers may be lured into potentially dangerous financial situations, such as trying to become traders, without any knowledge or experience. They could lose their savings, or when they start working, could plough their income into get-rich schemes that are not as lucrative as they were made to believe.

 

Tips for teaching children about money

 

If you have children and you want to ensure that they do not get drawn into the dangers of learning finance through apps like TikTok, the summer holidays are the perfect time to spend some time teaching them about money.

 

Here are some tips for helping your child learn about finances:

 

Practice making payments

 

Let your child pay for items in shops and to take the change from the cashier to familiarise them with handling money and seeing the value of items.

 

Give your child a chore-based allowance

 

Setting an allowance each week helps children to manage their own money and if you can link it into doing household chores, this will also help your child to establish the link between working to get a financial reward.

 

Have regular money conversations

 

Have conversations about money, such as getting them to guess how much you spend on the mortgage/rent, bills, and groceries each month. Talk about financial decisions with your child, for example, the need to save up for expensive items.

 

Be a good financial role model

 

For your child to establish good money habits, it is important that they see you displaying good financial management, as this largely influences their own approach to money. If you are careful with money and try to avoid taking out credit, this will set a great example for how to manage their own personal finances.

 

Encourage saving

 

The earlier you can get children to start saving up, the sooner they can start to see the benefits of saving their money instead of spending it. Opening up a savings account for children will get them into the habit of saving money and experience the excitement of watching their money grow.

 

The Young Savers Account with Central Liverpool Credit Union is the ideal starting point for planning for the future. The account is available to children of any age, from birth to 16 years, and gives them the good practice of managing their finances and learning the benefits of saving their money.

 

Another advantage of opening a Young Savers Account from Central Liverpool Credit Union is that gift vouchers are available, so relatives can buy vouchers for Christmas and birthday presents, helping to ensure that their savings continue to grow each year.

 

Find out more about the Young Savers account and submit an online application form to open an account and teach your child the best ways to manage their money.