Childhood and consumerism: Financial education contributions for children's critical education

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to present the action developed by Unicamp's Social Benefit Managing Group's team, to build an action proposal on child consumerism, together with children aged 9-11 years old from PRODECAD - Child and Teenager's Integration and Development Program. It is an action by PROAF - Financial Autonomy Program, which already acts on the financial education field with University employees since 2012, and which, with the purpose of expanding its activities, started this work with the employees' children in 2015, grounded on critical references, which contradict the childhood model mandated by the capitalist system. The work is developed by a multidisciplinar team, made up by Social Service, Economy and Psychology areas and provides, through weekly meetings, a set of activities dedicated to provide children, in a playful and pedagogic way, with a space of reflection on the topics: "childhood and consumerism", "child and teenager's rights", "the meaning of money", and "sustainability". We believe that this work systematization contributes not only to bring the child consumerism and financial education discussion to the debate center, but, especially, to stimulate actions and scientific productions about the topic.