Cashing Checks at the Bank

I couldn’t believe how many of my students did not know how to cash a check at the bank. Many of them have parents who use the check cashing stores which charge them to cash a check. Unfortunately many of these students and their parents do not have a bank account and are terrified about opening one up. There are also the ones who have been in trouble for writing bad checks and can’t open one up. So, I had to find out how to help my students from getting ripped off. I explained to them that they could go to the bank that was written on the check to get it cashed at no charge. I also told them to expect the tellers to tell them that it could not be charged there (this has happened to me many times) but to insist on speaking to the bank manager (which I have had to do also). If the check was written originating from that bank, they have to cash it. I feel it is important for my students to feel empowered and not allow others to take advantage of them. This is also a great lesson to teach them how to ask for a supervisor in order to complain without getting belligerent or rude. My students are always amazed at this and to top it off, I bring in a guest speaker who is a bank manager to reinforce this lesson. He also brings in checks to show them what to look for. If at all possible, I take a field trip to the bank. My students enjoyed this whole lesson because it was relevant to their everyday lives that they could use and even tell their parents about this.