Senior secondary schools’ students in Botswana were studied to determine their awareness of consumer rights and responsibilities and their perceptions of consumer behaviour and consumer education. Recommendations will inform the refinement of consumer education teaching in Botswana as well as other secondary education programmes. A questionnaire suitable for this study was used to collect data. Responses from 3107 students were received. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to determine frequencies and central tendencies. Chi‐square tests were computed to examine relationships among variables by gender, class level, and school location. Two‐thirds of the students correctly identified consumer rights and responsibilities. Female students were more likely to identify consumer rights and responsibilities than males. Students agreed that they were informed on consumer issues and females were more likely to be informed than males. Topics identified to be taught in consumer education included consumer rights and responsibilities, purchasing decisions, advertising and others. The delivery methods identified were classes in school, workshops, radio and television programmes, and consumer youth clubs. Consumer education programmes were found to have an impact on adolescents because most of them were aware of consumer rights and responsibilities and acted as informed consumers on most consumer issues.