South tyneside college have decided to go cashless for any food or drink purchased on the premises in September. This problem will impose a lot of challenges for students and parents/guardians of college students during the cost of living crisis and how our economy is gradually becoming harder to cope due to rising cost and wages staying roughly the same. The college has students from all walks of life, from students who are capable of different tasks mentally and physically,  to a student with a large family struggling with cost of living but work a job that pays too much for a bursary, the college has 14 year olds who have their own complex life outside of college grounds. This will effect everyone who goes to the college with troubles at home with money or even someone who is just having a bad time managing money one week with a surprise expense elsewhere.

The trouble with the cashless system they're bringing into place is that technology still has its faults. Some students get pocket money to get some chips on campus, some families can't afford to get a smart phone for their teenager to download an app to use in the college. Some people forget their charger for their phone and don't feel as though they can ask someone for theirs. A lot of families with money trouble will also have a concern for what this means for the colleges future. You should be able to give your child some change to guarantee they eat while at college. This will mean some people will have to go to a shop outside of campus for their food to ease the stress of eating on campus without a bank card or phone with an app. It will add extra stress to sort out bank cards for teenagers who didn't require one before going to college. Some people might not even know how to work the app, installation or their phone is an older model so crashes often. The system has a few ways it could backfire, whether the technology not working or over running student services by people needing help figuring it out or fixing the issue of not being able to eat that day.

This will come into effect in September if nothing is done and add on stress to any student or parent/guardian that has a hard time understanding the new technology or if money and banks are ever an issue. Thank you for reading my worries for other students.