Poll: Credit cards for teens?
Friday July 20, 2007
When my oldest took a trip abroad with her high school travel club, many of the parents had their teens tote around a prepaid credit card that they could check online and add money to the card through their bank account. I liked the idea of this type of credit card for teens, even for everyday. But, I'm still not a fan of teenagers having control of a regular credit card. How about you?
Would you give your teen their own credit card?
Comments
Whenever my teens travel long distances, I have given them a credit card with an oral agreement of what it may be used for. It may be just for emergencies, or for hotels and meals only, or only to be used after they ask, depending on the trip and the circumstances. If the privilege is abused, they don’t get it next time. This works even better now that I can check charges on line and nip any problems in the bud rather than waiting until a month’s worth of charges have accrued.
Credit cards need to be something that is a prepaid, not by the parent,but by the teenager. This way they can see how fast the money would disappear. Debit and charge is not even a great idea, but sometimes can’t be helped. It is more important to actually see the money leaving your hands, then it puts awareness to how much money is being spent. We are living in a world where the average American family is in high debt. Parents seem to have grown up in a family where they didn’t have a whole lot growing up, therefore want their teen to have more than what they had growing up. This is a society where when we want something, we needed it yesterday, and go buy it today, whether we have the cash or not. There is a difference between “wants and needs”, needless to say.