It's hard for children to know the value of a dollar when we live in a world of plastic.
For many children and teens, spending is no longer a treat. It's an expectation -- which credit cards are making irresistible.
Teens are using more credit cards all the time. A recent poll conducted by Junior Achievement and
The Allstate Foundation (ALL Quote - Cramer on ALL - Stock Picks) found that 10.4% of teens are using plastic, vs. 8.5% a year ago.
The increase is disturbing, I think, because teens can't afford to risk financial ruination by letting their debts mount. Yet at the same time, I'm sympathetic to their plight. Even the simple act of driving around town requires more cash now than most people carry. A movie, popcorn and a tank of gas can easily require a wad of $20 bills.
Gasoline, in fact, ranked as teenagers'
top credit card expense -- supplanting clothing. But a 16 year old who watches the fuel pump at the gas station suck up money at a $4-per-gallon clip, may learn an invaluable lesson about the finite nature of cash -- one that's seemed absent in recent years.
The plethora of credit cards available to consumers, however, can make it easy for young people to forget that they owe real money over time.
Teaching my three children, ages six to 12, that our checking account isn't a bottomless pit is an ongoing challenge.
I must be in good company. Recently, during a rare trip to
Toys R Us, we noticed a few children crying because they wanted something that their parents weren't buying. "This seems like a terrible place. Children cry when they come here," remarked my 12-year-old son.
Suzanne Barlyn
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