by John Toth

Created on: May 14, 2009

Credit Cards for Teens

As many are aware, teenagers have been having a growing reputation in further proving the stereotype that they are irresponsible. It is said that the average teen will be in debt by the time they graduate college, whether it is from credit card debt or student loans. However, one must consider the fact that the previous stereotype is just that. It is a stereotype, a generalization, and does not apply to all teens.

Teens and credit cards is a combination that make most parents cringe, but at the same time one understands that a credit card is one of the easiest and best ways for these teens to build their credit score. Instead of people panicking about whether or not a teen should be restricted from yet another facet of most adult lives, one should be thinking about how such a situation can teach responsibility in the teenager's life.

Credit card companies should be offering "special" teenage versions of their credit cards, with a much lower credit limit. A logical limit for a teenager would be five hundred to a thousand dollars. Teenagers, especially the ones that are in college, live a life similar to an adult as they make the bridging transition from child to adult. Why should they be denied the same rights as an adult? As many college students can agree, sometimes ends cannot be met and one has to borrow money just in order to survive. Also, just like adults, a teen can have an unexpected windfall in their finances.

Although the cycle of ups and downs may not be as extreme in a teenager's life, sometimes five dollars can mean the difference between a college student eating for the week or sitting in the dorm room, hungry and penniless.

In an economy as unstable and fragile as it is today, one has to realize that these teenagers should learn their lessons now. It is better for the teenager to sink into a thousand dollar debt now that they pay off and learn their lesson rather than for them to have a forty thousand dollar debt fifteen years from now where they will have to file for bankruptcy and be yet another burden on the federal budget.

So, before one says "yes" or "no" to the partially horrifying thought of a teenager holding a credit card, one has to consider the following question:

Do we want the teenager to sink into a small debt now and learn their lesson or do we want them to sink into a huge debt when their adults and become a burden to economy. Parental lectures only work so much on a teen. Experience is the best teacher; let it do its job in teaching teens responsibility.

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