NO STREET CENTS TO SPARE
Looking at my rapidly declining bank balance, I remember that it wasn’t always this way. Whatever happened to that fiscally responsible teenager who never made an impulse buy and always accounted for every dollar? Then, it occurs to me: when trendy advertisements tried to empty my pocket as a young adult, Street Cents was there to save the day.
You remember the show. Street Cents invited teens to play an active role in their own financial education. With segments like What’s Your Beef? and Fit for the Pit, the CBC program helped facilitate teens with the tools to critically navigate the world of consumerism. Kids had a safe platform to challenge what advertising execs were trying to sell them and could even promote their own small businesses – funded through a program that actually wanted their voices to be heard.
We didn’t watch Street Cents for the educational value, though. We watched because it was the only good thing on. Chuckling through the choppy sketch comedy, the hosts managed to turn a generation of goofy, pimply- faced viewers into young critical thinkers.
By the time its last episode aired, teens had rapidly diverged from the typical forms of ’ 90s entertainment. Instead of lazing in front of the TV on channel five every Saturday morning, teens could now choose where, what and how they accessed entertainment through the influx of social media.
The flurry of technological upgrades that shortened the distance to unlimited information ultimately widened the choice for how teens are entertained in the home. It’s funny that a lack of choice is probably why Street Cents flourished in the ’ 90s.
Methods for enabling teens to become penny-wise adults have to keep pace with rapidly changing interests just to remain relevant. This new era of technology- infused hyper- consumerism undoubtedly warrants a set of updated tools for which Street Cents laid its groundwork for my generation.
Today, the demographic most susceptible to monetary blunder enjoys a constant stream of media instantly at their fingertips. Despite all of the advantages this next generation has, I can’t help but feel a little bit sorry, a little bit worried for them. Who will help them make the right decisions like Street Cents helped me?