Perils of Plastic, Dealers of Debt
In a column titled "Cash preferable to credit for kids", the Washington Post's Michelle Singletary writes about her views on why credit cards (including prepaid cards) are just bad news for kids and teens.
I was livid when the popular Hello Kitty brand for children introduced a MasterCard debit card targeted at 10- to 14-year-olds. Don't think for a second that the companies that are marketing these cards have our children's best interest in mind. They have one goal -- to hook a customer for life as early in life as possible. We are being hoodwinked and bamboozled by the credit card industry. Look, these people are dealers of debt. They shouldn't be trusted with our children.Kris Thoma also writes about the issue of kids and cards for the Pensacola News Journal in her article titled "Generation Plastic".
Gulf Breeze resident Marta Ray, 53, said she didn't give her children credit cards as teenagers because she thought they should learn to manage a checkbook first. Her son is 25 and recently got his first credit card. Her daughter is 22 and is "nowhere near needing one.""I don't want her to start relying on the 'I'll pay for it later' mindset," Ray said. "She has a check card and I think she needs to understand more about that first."
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