Street Cents – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

Street Cents

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

show1989

84%

WISE Score

The OG of financial literacy that taught a generation how to spot a scam before 'de-influencing' was a TikTok trend.

Street Cents

show

1989

84%

WISE Score

The OG of financial literacy that taught a generation how to spot a scam before 'de-influencing' was a TikTok trend.

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Screenwise Verdict

Street Cents is the medicine that tastes like candy—or at least like a slightly dated 90s snack. It was doing 'de-influencing' decades before social media existed, teaching kids that corporations are not their friends and that 'cool' is a marketing construct.

The only real hurdle here is the age of the content. Watching a teen from 1994 talk about the price of a floppy disk is a hard sell for a kid in 2026. But if you can get them past the baggy jeans and the 4:3 aspect ratio, the logic of the show is still incredibly sharp. It’s a great 'co-watch' for a rainy afternoon to jumpstart a conversation about how they're being targeted by algorithms today.

Age Fit

Perfect for 10-14 year olds who are starting to have their own 'pocket money.' Younger kids might get bored by the talk of interest rates, and older teens might find the 90s aesthetic too cringey.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

It models healthy skepticism and ethical consumerism without being preachy. The vibe is collaborative, youth-led, and centered on empowerment.

Imaginative

While it's a newsmagazine, the show used creative sketch comedy and clever product-testing scenarios to make dry financial concepts actually interesting.

Safe

Produced by CBC as an ad-free public service. It’s basically the safest environment imaginable for a kid to learn about the messy world of marketing.

Enriching

This is the gold standard for media and financial literacy. It teaches kids to look under the hood of advertising and understand the value of a dollar.

Parent Info

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Why It Might Be Great

Masterclass in Media Literacy: It breaks down how commercials manipulate emotions to sell low-quality junk.
Consumer Advocacy: The show famously tested products to see if they lived up to the hype, often proving they didn't.
No-Nonsense Financials: Covers everything from how banks work to the ethics of sweatshop labor in a way that respects a teenager's intelligence.
Ad-Free Integrity: Because it was publically funded, the hosts could trash a bad product without worrying about losing a sponsor.

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What to Watch For

Extremely Outdated Tech: Your kid will see segments on the 'best portable CD players' or 'how to save for a pager.' It’s a total time capsule.
90s Pacing: Compared to the 1.5x speed of modern YouTube, the sketch comedy and investigative segments might feel slow to a kid raised on MrBeast.
Canadian Context: Since it's a CBC show, some references to Canadian currency or specific retailers (like Zellers) won't mean much to US-based viewers.

Conversation Starters

"If you were doing a 'Fit Test' on a product you bought recently, would it pass or fail?"
"Why do you think companies use 'cool' influencers to sell things instead of just showing how the product works?"
"Which commercial that you see all the time is the most annoying or misleading?"
"If you had to save up for something big right now, what's one 'small' thing you'd stop buying to get there faster?"

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