Help spread the word of personal finance education by becoming a My Money champion in your school!
If you want to know more about how to handle your money, why not try to get your school more involved in teaching you about financial capability? You could even talk to your teachers and let them know that you would like to know about managing your money.
To help you become a My Money champion, we’ve spoken to our young advisers about the best ways to engage your teachers and classmates about personal finance education. Here are their tips for success:
1. Talk to people
Tell anyone who listen that you want to learn more about money management. Talk to your teachers and your parents, tell your mates, cashiers at the bank and your pet hamster…get your message out there to as many people as possible and make yourself heard! It’s only when people hear your concerns that they can take action, and you’d be surprised by how positively most people will react to the fact that you’re taking responsibility.
2. Be confident and knowledgeable
Remember – you’re the champion! So if you’re going to talk to people make sure you do it confidently. The easiest way to do this is to find out as much as you can about the subject you’re talking about. Why not have a look around this website to discover all the resources and ideas you and your teachers could use?
3. Get help from an adult
It’s much easier to get people in your school on board if you have an adult to help you. Try to target the teachers that are in the best position to help you, such as PSHE coordinators or suitable heads of department who plan lessons and schemes of work. Show them the Resources section on this site and get them excited. Once they’re on board they can help you raise awareness among other members of staff that are harder to reach and spread the message.
4. Run an assembly
You could prepare a short presentation or a play and run your own assembly about the need for personal finance. A guest could be invited into the school to talk about their experiences of managing money – maybe a bank manager, a parent or an older brother or sister.
5. Promote your cause
Keep getting your message across by promoting it wherever possible. Write about it online, make posters and put them up in the corridors, conduct polls in your school using the questions on this site, do TV interviews with Jeremy Paxman…OK, maybe not the last one, but you never know where a little effort might take you!
6. If at first you don’t succeed...
There’s bound to be some disappointment along the way, but if you really believe in something you have to keep trying. Pick yourself up, change your approach if you need to, but whatever you do, make sure that you keep positive and have fun!