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Question: In the US, kids in their senior year of highschool, not even 18 yet, get credit card offers. At graduation, the kids are deluged with credit card offers. The credit limit is low, perhaps $250, but it’s an attempt to teach them to live in debt, IMO. I know quite a few people in their late 20’s, early 30’s, who went for the credit cards and ran up debt in their late teens, then spent part of their 20’s paying it off. They all seem to have learned a lesson from it and are careful with credit now. still speaking to me , I’d have responded to the daughter’s situation with, “Oh, my. How are you going to work that out, sweetheart?” She probably feels like an idiot all ready, so no point in rubbing it in, but I’d let her deal with it herself. If it’s slowed her down in getting credit, GOOD!! She’s obviously not mature enough to handle credit if she isn’t capable of getting her tickets paid off on time. Annie — who’s feeling very opinionated today

Answer: A credit card is a tool to be used or mis-used. A card with a very low limit ($250 is a good number!) is an excellent opportunity to learn how to manage the thing. If one is going to screw up with a credit card, best to do it early and small – rolling a $250 debt and learning the lesson there beats the heck out of rolling a $25k debt and possibly facing serious hardship as a result.

But burying one’s head in the sand, pretending that the kids won’t be offered credit cards in the future, _not_ teaching the kid how to use one properly (ie. paying it off in full each month) — is absurd. Yet some of the posters in the newsgroup do exactly this. Hang around a while and see some of the knee-jerk reactions to credit and credit cards. It would be amusing if it weren’t dangerous to the future financial health of those involved. Also quite right. Regardless of the credit card situation, parking and traffic tix need to be paid (or cleared in the court appropriately). Leaving them hanging and ignoring them can cost a lot more down the line. The kid needs to learn to take responsibility for her actions and this is a very good first step. And, again, a not-very-costly one compared to some of the outrageously expensive lessons that other folks have to go through to learn these things.

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