Bitcoin Forum

Before you start comenting on this, quickly read through this and base your opinion on what you have read:
http://www.unicef.org/publications/files/CSFE_module_low_res_FINAL.pdf

I will quote some interresting findings :
" A project in Kenya found that the
introduction of child savings accounts
improved the well-being of children and
youth living in poverty. This preliminary
research study on out-of-school adolescent
Kenyan girls who participated in financial
education determined that girls in the
experimental group more than doubled
their initial savings after being trained
in important life skills including saving,
business support and mentoring skills. 

While there is some reluctance to exposing
children to financial concepts at too early
an age, there are considerable benefits
to introducing financial education while
young people are still in a process of
formulating personal financial behaviours. "

Also look at the table on page 10 of this document to reflect the different ages and what kind of development needs to be done to promote financial education.

So based on this information, where would you introduce Bitcoin into the lives of our youths, considering that Bitcoin needs more responsible people, because you place all the financial decisions in your own hands and not into the hands of some bank or financial institution. ^hmmmm^

that is true ,financial education is very much important at the beginning age , because at the young age people tend spend time other activities like games , play etc , but financially guiding them also an important task  like what is money an dhow we can earn , save  and use it in a proper way and slowly on the digital currency also.

You are a fast reader, since you replied within 6 minutes from me posting this. ^hmmm^ The angle here is different to what other topics on this forum is discussing about age & Bitcoin. We should consider the higher resposibility needed to keep our kids safe, seeing that they have 100% control over their money matters, when they deal with Bitcoin.

There is no soft landing, if they transfer their Bitcoin into the wrong address and no customer protection built into the technology to reverse the payment, if they get scammed or hacked. So the age for exposure to Bitcoin, should in theory be higher compared to other payment methods. ^hmmmm^

i think its our jobs to explain with our kids if they already know about bitcoin. its more easy to explain to them if they already know bitcoin because we can explain with details so our kids have more information from the right person as we are their parents. as long as our kids even teenager still live in our house, we are still responsible with them and their money. its different if they grow up and decide to live alone without us.

Yup it's important but not at the school age. We need financial education at the college level and much important to know the country's economic status and if we are working in government financial sector we could able to improve few steps to improve the quality of our country's economy.

I feel confused please tell me what are you mean, the responsibility is always held by their parents or trying to put the financial responsibility into them.

There are many parents that do not even know what their children are doing online. These kids can use Bitcoin to buy drugs or to gamble and nobody would even know. The Bitcoin community have to find ways to make Bitcoin safe for the children using it, or the shills and the pessimists will use this as a weapon against us.

I am saying that we need to educate children on the dangers of Crypto currencies, because it is not like the fiat system, where everything is regulated and governed to protect the consumer. We should do this from a early age, to prevent problems in the future.

After sex education at early age now they are demanding financial education.Are we spoiling our little ones minds?I am against putting up lots of unnecessary burden on our kids. Let em come to an age and they will learn

I agree minors can freely access through illegal things or buy drugs just like they earn lot of bitcoin and they are little bit curious about drugs then they could buy it using bitcoins because they have a bitcoin and no one knows because it is on online and it is anonymous, parents cant stop the children because they didnt know. Government and proper guidance of the parents should takes place!

This is not a Bitcoin problem, but rather poor parenting... If your kids are on the internet without supervision, you are opening a opportunity for them

to do these things. The problem is mobile phones... you cannot supervise that 24/7 and you have to warn them about the things that can harm them

on the internet, and that includes Bitcoin and Gambling. Talk to your children and they will know what is wrong and what is not.  ;)

Here in my country even it is anonymous it is still impossible that those drugs will received from merchant to buyer.. here in my country you will be killed it is illegal here and almost all addicted people are killed.

I would agree and support UNICEF in their drive for implementing this "Child Social and Financial Education". I hope schools in my country would also use this module and teach the youth.
As for introducing Bitcoin to youths, On a personal note, my nephew is in grade school and he knows about bitcoin in general.(A digital currency,method of payment,can be earned online,can be converted to fiat), as for allowing him to use it?No. Why? It's not safe.I do not want him exposed to scams,etc. But, when he's around 16-17, I will, after teaching him all the pros and cons, warnings/dangers involved and under supervision as much as possible. It'll be a good way to learn how to be responsible for his finances. 

Bitcoin: the youths approach to print their own currency

Nothing new under the sun....

And finally the financial educations is needed by their parents to keep their children is never wanna to falling into the alert zone. I think for some years later this thing will become an obligation for every parent

Why does Bitcoin need more responsible people than any other form of money? Your argument that all financial decisions are in one's own hands is without merit, because interventions by banks and financial institution that restrict private financial decisions are perceived as an abuse of power by most people. Bitcoin is no special case compared to "ordinary money" when it comes to human behavior.

I'm opposing the view that people need to be "educated" to do the "right thing". It's another form of power abuse, because those who define what's "right" manipulate children to follow their agenda. In my opinion, people should be free to make their own experiences and manage their funds as they see fit. Patronizing people in their financial matters prevents independent learning and encourages appeal to authorities.

Besides that the methodology of the "study" is not adhering to any reasonable standard, the outright furtiveness of the project becomes apparent when closely looking at its implementation: The children are taught to use saving accounts, i.e. fiat money banking services. In fact, the whole study is not an independent endeavor to improve financial literacy and critical thinking in financial matters, but centers around pro-banking propaganda. No thanks!

ya.ya.yo!

Ok, point taken, but the project was just posted as a stimulus for discussion on what Bitcoin people should do to improve on that. You have highlighted an important aspect, and we should rather just concentrate on education to protect, rather than prescribing to people how to manage their money.

I would rather warn people about my mistakes and prevent them from repeating them. ^smile^

I myself came from a traditional family, where it is quite common to have a lot of money misconceptions and how to deal with money problems faced by every family. As I grew up, I learned to distance myself from what my parents and siblings view on money management was. Now that I am a parent myself, I would serve as a role model for my child and teach him valuable lessons about money when he is old enough to understand how money or the lack thereof affects our lives.

This is a very good post, but the point is not if we should educate them, but rather when. Also, should this happen at a earlier age with Bitcoin, because it gives more freedom and control to it's user. We have to realize that giving people more freedom and control, comes with added risks.

They have no customer protection and insurance to fall back on, when they deal with Bitcoin directly. They are given 100% control over their private key, when they do not use Bitcoin through 3rd party services. Your money matters are your own responsibility now, and this increase your risk, if you manage that poorly.

I am saying, let's find a way to educate the youth at a younger age when they are using Bitcoin, based on our collective experience for them to learn from our mistakes. Bitcoin gives children at a younger age, the opportunity to manage their own money, which is not the case with other fiat systems and banks.

Let's protect our children from the scams and the exploitation that are currently out there, by educating them at a earlier age, when they use a technology that enables them to trade globally. ^hmmmm^

That's the prefect recipe for screwing everything up if you ask me. A solution waiting for a problem. Looks to me like you're just projecting your own fears and insecurities onto the new generation. A self-appointed judge ready to rob them of their childhood for a crime they may or may not commit in some distant future. I'm more like, if a kid comes to you wanting to learn about Bitcoin/money then fine but don't go look for him in his treehouse and force him to hear your ramblings just so you can sleep better at night. Kids are not as helpless as you think.

To be able to teach the younger age of financial education is really great. I beleive that teaching them early about this give them better opportunity when  they are old. Even if you teach your children how to save money is very helpful.

Yeah, this seems to be centered around banks, but the idea behind it is actually pretty good.
It might be a good idea for someone to set up a similar guide centered around Bitcoin and distribute it through NGO's

India seems like the right place to do something like that now, since they will be receiving free 4G soon.

I am glad that i was able to learn bitcoin for almost a year by now. It was really a big help on my part as a student as i was able to buy the things i needed and i can also say that i am quite good on economics subject because of being in this industry.

Sure... And true talk..

i love this and let me say, i am very big on financially educating not only children but also adults.
you teach your kids to have something to eat if they are hungry and to go to the toilet if they have to. how do you find out if it is to early? you just try. also nothing happens if you kids needs longer to learn this. at some point you teach them about money.
so some time after that i would show them bitcoin, but in a playful way first. play shop or something.
first they need to know how wallets and all work. then you have to teach them about the safety aspect and then they are ready to use it.
just make sure you do not stop there and teach them also about how money works.

Financial for education is important me as a student i earn money from bitcoin where ican get weekly bitcoin which is i always convert my bitcoin into money and i use that for my weekly expenses bitcoin has a effect on me or big help on my life and bitcoin help me to pay my tuition fee every month also :)

Thanks Kakmakr, you are absolutely right. 

Bitcoin needs to be introduced as soon as possible not only because of its importance in trade and finance but also because learning how it works is highly educative. 
Many people who grow up under fiat feudalism never learn about currency issuance, seignorage, or things like escrow, physical delivery, etcetera.  Learning what public coin is and how to use it will greatly empower our children in Kenya and around the world - even if they don't immediately have a chance to use it. 

I agree kids should be taught about financial education as soon as they can grasp knowledge and differences of things.  This will equip them when they grow up and can deal greatly when it comes to financial management.  As early as this kids taught about the importance of money and how to save and manage it for the future use, the better the discipline of the kids  and result it will be.

We live in an age that everyone should have at least moderate financial education. Money is more important than ever. People without money is considered as scums. In a capitalistic world, you exist as long as you have money. Money or gtfo.

Yes, that would be my take.  To expand my views a bit, I would encourage some small financial education even to young children (especially saving).  But, I would certainly include more financial education (and encouragement to learn more on one's own) as adults. 

Imagine the type of society we might have were people more financially literate (less debt, more BTC, a clearer knowledge of the banking system, etc.).

lmao . at the young age maybe you can start to learn or to teach the younger age on how do we earn money , maybe it would be better if you would only teach them the things about saving and the proper way of using their money while they are not reaching the age 17 and above . of course at the young age especially those between the age 8-13 they usually tend play games or whatsoever as well as the ages 14-16 they are the tricky ones so they are not responsible enough to be taught about earning money because there's a tendency that they would focus on earning money and will neglect their studies .