by Julie A. Wein

Created on: September 30, 2010

Teenagers have already gotten a reputation for being irresponsible and untrustworthy. There are plenty of teenagers that fit that description, but also plenty who don’t. Some teenagers are more responsible and trustworthy than others. Those who are earn far more privileges from their parents than those who aren’t.

When it comes to the subject of teenagers shopping alone during the holidays, the responsible ones should be allowed to. As long as he or she can be trusted not to spend more money than they have there should be no reason why they can’t do their holiday shopping on their own. One of the biggest privileges any teenager can have is the privilege of freedom. If a teenager has earned this privilege, then why not let them have it?

Holiday shopping can be a stressful event for some people. Many teenagers do enjoy shopping more than their older counterparts. A parent may even send their teenager out to do their holiday shopping for them. Chances are, the more the customer enjoys their shopping experience, the better the gifts they will purchase for family and friends.

Many adults aren’t fond of malls at the best of times, much less during the holiday season. Many more teenagers love to spend time at the mall anyway, so why not allow them to do their own holiday shopping? Teenagers don’t see the mall as a miserable place to be. They don’t seem to mind the crowds as much as older folks do. As resilient as most teenagers are, they will bounce back from a stressful shopping situation much faster than adults will.

While many teenagers are trustworthy, others aren’t. The ones that aren’t perhaps should not be allowed to do their own holiday shopping. They need the supervision an adult will provide in order to stay out of trouble, both financially and otherwise. An irresponsible teenager may buy inappropriate gifts for family and friends or may just spend money on gifts for themselves. Teenagers that can’t be trusted may resort to shoplifting to obtain the items they want.

The question of whether teenagers should be allowed to do their own holiday shopping depends entirely on the teenager in question. There is no one answer that is right for every teenager. Some can handle the responsibility and some cannot. Some can be taught responsibility and some are just too rebellious to be teachable. Some simply aren’t interested in these kinds of things.

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