Teenagers trained to be critical in making purchases<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A warning for manufacturers: do not cheat the
\nconsumers with misleading labels. And for retailers, do not sell
\nproducts after the use-by date.<\/p>\n
Consumers, always in a weak position and victims of retailers'
\ndelinquencies, are no longer unrepresented. Those who will raise
\ntheir voices and demand their rights are not necessarily lawyers.
\nTeenagers will now do that.<\/p>\n
Prior making purchases, they will check whether the
\ninformation on the products' labels are in accordance with the
\nfacts, like counting the number of pages and quality of their
\nwriting books, the length of time a ballpoint lasts and examining
\nthe use-by date of certain snacks.<\/p>\n
In brief, they are now critical consumers, thanks to a course
\non consumer awareness held by the Indonesian Consumers Foundation
\n(YLKI) under the program, Training for Critical Teenagers.<\/p>\n
The foundation has conducted the courses three times this
\nyear. So far, five students from each of eight senior high
\nschools in Jakarta have attended the courses which will continue
\nuntil 2002.<\/p>\n
Just listen to their experiences shared with The Jakarta Post
\nduring a recent Discussion on Presentation and Evaluation of
\nTeenager Consumer Training.<\/p>\n
\"Before, I never paid attention to the expiration date when I
\nbought certain food products, but now I am more critical,\" said
\nPuri, student of Muhammadiyah senior high school at Pejompongan
\narea in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Puri was explaining about her recent experience of finding
\nexpired instant milk at a supermarket in Kemang, South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"I tried to find some others, but they all had the same
\ncondition, I then complained to the supermarket employees and
\nthey promised to withdraw all the products,\" she said.<\/p>\n
The students are also critical of snack vendors around their
\nschool yards.<\/p>\n
Husnul, from SMU Perguruan Rakyat II high school in East
\nJakarta, said that she learned that beverage sellers near her
\nschool charged students too much for the drinks.<\/p>\n
\"For example, Aqua mineral water in a 600 milliliter bottle,
\nis sold between Rp 1,500 and Rp 2,000, but we know that the basic
\nprice from the producer is just Rp 800,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Her friend Indri, from the same school, said she considers
\nseveral things before buying certain snacks. She thinks snacks
\nlike potato chips, corn flakes and others wrapped in puffed-up
\npackages are deceitful.<\/p>\n
\"Those are relatively expensive students, with big packages
\nand little content,\" said Indri.<\/p>\n
The students are also critical of their own schools and will
\nopenly question any ambiguous policy.<\/p>\n
Puri said that she once questioned a policy by a teacher who
\ncollected Rp 75,000 from the students for a certain activity in
\nher school. \"I asked for clarification, there should be details
\nof the allocation. I face the consequences of being critical
\nbecause the teacher doesn't like me now,\" she said, adding that
\nthe matter is still being considered.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, there are only a few critical students in the
\ncountry. The students share with each other how difficult it is
\nto disseminate the awareness among their school mates.<\/p>\n
\"Many of our friends are sometimes unwilling to be more
\ncritical as they consider it of no use,\" said Silvia, student of
\nSMKN 45 in West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
But Zumrotin K. Susilo, former chairwoman of YLKI, said that
\nsuch difficulties are normal \"I have been fighting for consumer's
\nrights since 1973. It is really difficult to build awareness,\"
\nshe said during the discussion.<\/p>\n
She added that teenagers are easy prey to advertising.
\n\"Teenagers have the tendency to buy certain things based on
\ndesire not on need. From that point of view, consumer education
\nis needed,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Research<\/p>\n
Prehati, from YLKI's education department, said that during
\nthe training the students were advised on producer's and
\nconsumer's rights and obligations, the way to read product
\nlabels, to be critical of commercials, the procedures for voicing
\ncomplaints and so on.<\/p>\n
They were also assigned to conduct research on consumerism
\namong students. \"We didn't dictate to them what to do. It was up
\nto them to consider topics for the research,\" said Prehati,
\nshowing some of the works of the students in the form of papers
\nand montages.<\/p>\n
The topics for their research included smoking habits among
\nstudents, the use of hair coloring, consumption trends among
\nstudents while another school held a seminar on drug abuse.<\/p>\n
There are many interesting aspects in the results of the
\nresearch, for example that conducted by students of SMUN 35 in
\nCentral Jakarta with the topic \"Consumption Trends among
\nTeenagers\" with 100 students as respondents.<\/p>\n
It shows that almost half of their pocket money is spent for
\nfood or hanging around at malls or restaurants, the places
\nvisited by the students about twice a week. Only about 27 percent
\nof the students preferred to save the money.<\/p>\n
The same topic researched by students of SMK 28 Oktober 1928
\nII high school showed that most of the pocket money was used to
\nbuy school apparatus, VCDs or cassettes, accessories or
\ncosmetics.<\/p>\n
The research about the use of hair coloring among students
\nshowed that the students do so for the sake of trend even though
\nthey know there are side effects for their hair.<\/p>\n
Students of SMKN 45 in West Jakarta conducted research on
\nsmoking among 50 student respondents, and found that half of them
\nstarted the habit in junior high school, while 24 percent of them
\nstarted in elementary school.<\/p>\n
Most of the respondents are social smokers, and they mostly
\nsmoke without parental knowledge. (ida)<\/p>",
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