Digital Commerce

Digital commerce will be a major component of the adult lives of most young people in the United States.  Twenty-first-century learners must learn to navigate this brave new commercial realm safely and smartly.
    Completion of the activity in the Ribble text prompted me to think about the pros and cons of teaching about digital commerce.  As I said in my group e-mail, I cannot imagine any cons of teaching safe practices and consumer savvy when it comes to dealing with online purchases.  Setting children free in an online purchasing environment without support and training would be akin to letting them cross a busy street alone.  My preteen sons must always ask before conducting a digital transaction.  When my husband and I make purchases electronically, we try to point out things to look for when determining if a purchase is secure: the presence of a padlock in the URL or in the frame of a window, ratings for vendors, privacy agreements, passwords, etc.  While nothing is fail-safe, paying attention to these matters can make a difference when it comes to identity theft, credit fraud, and the quality of merchandise purchased.
    Furthermore, because vendors understand that millions of young people (many with considerable financial resources) are online, they are marketing actively to them via all possible means: through TV, gaming websites, social networking sites, smart phones, etc.  The potential for individuals to get in trouble with debt and poor credit ratings is considerable. Online purchasing requires shrewdness for both children and adults.  We have tried to teach our own children to deconstruct commercials from a very young age: we don’t want them, or ourselves, to get caught up in believing on any level that the latest this-or-that will make them happy in an advertising-saturated environment.