Poll: Giving Teens Credit Cards
Friday July 11, 2008
Mature teenagers can often handle adult responsibilities and you can always teach them a responsibility. But would you allow your teenager the freedom of having their own credit card? Is there a line that parents should draw before allowing their teen to ruin their credit before they ever even leave home? Of course there is. So banks and credit card companies have prepaid cards and other ways of safe guarding a teen from him/her self. Prepaid is what we’ve chosen for my daughter and I’m enjoying watching her learn how to handle the responsibility of it.
What do you think? Weight in on our poll. If you have given your teen a card, tell us how it is going in the comments area.
Would you give your teen a credit card?
Comments
You have got to be kidding! How about telling our children to get a job and earn their way? Credit cards are for extreme emergencies… what extreme emergencies do teenagers have? How about teaching our children to control their spending, save for items they want, or work for what they want? I cannot see any reason for a teenager to have a credit card, except that he/she put pressure on the parent to get one, and the parent was afraid to say no. Parenting is about teaching kids to live in the real world… use real money to do that.
bad question,depending on house holds income is depending on weather you would even consider giving any teen a credit card .
teenagers need to learn about the real world 1st not about plastic.
credit cards in my eyes are for emergencies
bad way to start!!
Giving a teen a credit card implies that you give them the the means to spend your money. Teens should learn the responsibility of working for what they want and earning their own money and if they so choose with that to put it on a prepaid card then at least it is their’s. Teaching money handling, budgeting, saving, and work ethics should be done, however a parent shouldn’t have to hand over their hard earned money for a teenager to spend on her own personal wants. The problem with teens today is that too many parents are just giving them whatever they want and in the real world when they leave home that just isn’t a realistic lesson and it will be shocking for them to realize nothing comes free.
I think of a teen credit card that I have controll over as a pre-loaded Visa card or the teen’s bank account credit card. I would not give a teen a adults credit card to be paid off in 30 days. Currently my 14yr has her bank ATM card that can get money out of her account if she should need it.
We did not give our son a credit card but we did give him a Visa buxx card from buxx.com and I think it has really been nice. It is not credit, it is a prepaid card and my husband and I can see where he is spending his money, suspend the card if need be, etc. I like the fact that I can add money to the card in an emergency situation.
My 16 year-old has a prepaid visa from accountnow.com. It has her name on it and costs 9.95 a month. She can use it anywhere. Her father and I are divorced, so both of us can add money to it as well as her part time job being direct deposited. I have one of these cards as well, there are no bounced check fees, if you dont have it, you are declined….which is fine with me!
Our 18 year old son has ALWAYS been very responsible with money - he had a “child account” from the time he was four years old, and just took the money out of it recently, (when he turned 18), so that he could open his own checking account and use his debit card. He is happy with that, because HE controls his “debt,” which he has none of. He does not want a credit card - he has seen people “go under” with them - He says he will apply for ONE credit card when he gets older and needs to build credit towards a new car, home, etc. I am so VERY proud of him! WTG, Alex!
Simply put it is a great idea to give teens a credit card. Think about it, don’t give them one if you know they will fail when using it. But if you know your kid well enough then it should be obvious if their responsible enough to do it. I know for a fact it has made life way easier for my kid because he has to pay the bills. He has to pay for the card itself, and he hasn’t ever *beeped* up so I see no problem with it.
I do not think that giving teens credit card will help them learn about money. So many adults get in way over their head with credit card debt. How about teaching your teen to need to save up for anything that they want to buy. That’s not a new concept.