The following song addresses the issue that children and teenagers today often want their own credit card for their allowance at a very young age. As with cell phone plans, this should ideally be done through a prepaid system. Some banks issue cards starting at birth or at age seven, but often not until age twelve or older. However, most recommendations consider ages 10 to 12 to be the earliest appropriate time to start:

The song by “Shadow Light Project” uploaded here can be used free of charge by schools and parents when they are addressing this issue. The song isn’t just a standalone piece; it can be combined with countless other activities. Here are just a few examples of what a class can do after listening to the school rap:

• Discussion of the initial situation:
  • Is the boy really going to get a card, or is he just trying to pull a fast one on his father?
  • What other arguments for and against are there?
  • How should the younger sister's decision to give it up be viewed?
• Cost Analysis: Students analyze the text and verify the claims by comparing them with real mobile phone providers. Guiding questions from the song could include:
  • Verse 2 (the “fine print”): What hidden costs are there really with today’s prepaid providers? (e.g., activation fees, voicemail charges, automatic top-ups).
  • Chorus (Data Throttling): What happens today with the major providers when your data allowance is used up? Can you still browse at all, or are you completely blocked?
  • Comparison: When is a prepaid plan even worth it these days compared to an affordable monthly subscription that can be canceled at any time?
• The class is designing a poster listing the biggest subscription traps to avoid.
• Performing your own rap songs in class:
  • The teacher plays a simple, royalty-free hip-hop or trap beat over the speakers (there are thousands of them on YouTube under “Free Instrumental Beat”). Individual students rap the verses in time with the beat. They then sing the chorus together.
  • You can use a free online vocal remover (such as vocalremover.org) to remove the vocals. This gives the class a custom karaoke track so they can sing along to the lyrics live.
• Media Education: The Suno song can also be used to discuss AI-generated music with students: Does this song by Shadow Light Project sound like a hit from the charts, or is it similar to songs by well-known children’s songwriters? Where can you still tell that AI is behind it (e.g., in the pronunciation of certain words)?

And finally: If you've used the song in class, please send me a comment telling me how it went…

Lyrics and Song