Childnet International and the Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA) have worked together to create a lesson called Being Smart with Your Smartphone.
The lesson is designed for teachers to use with 8-11 year olds to help them understand that it is possible to spend real money through their phones, recognise how this can happen and avoid being caught out.
With the number of 8-11 year olds owning their own smartphone on the rise (up from 32% in 2016 to 39% in 2017, Ofcom) it is important that they are able to do so without losing credit or racking up expensive phone bills. This lesson takes them through the ways they can spend money through their phones and teaches them about the key terms to look out for.
There is plenty of help for you to deliver the session in the Teacher Pack and there are lots of useful pieces of advice from the character Bill Shock during the presentation.
The lesson pack is split into 3 parts:
- Presentation
- Teacher Pack (including the detailed lesson plan and extension activities)
- Student pack (all the resources the students will need including a help sheet with key terms)
The lesson will help young people to answer these questions;
- How can you spend money on a free app?
- Is text voting through your phone free?
- What terms and conditions should we look out for?
- What can we do to stop ourselves being caught out and accidentally buying something?
