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Many posts here questioning why a kid needs/wants a debt card. I think most would be less surprised to know many things kids want to buy are digital, specifically app subs and virtual currency (i.e., robux). Even a 4-year old will be asking for an AppStore gift card to sub to Sago Mini
Needs and wants are extremely different things. Let's not merge them together.
As others have mentioned, cash is near useless for children nowadays. He used to give me cash when he bought Robux etc but cash is also near useless for me.
I was concerned when I saw this headline but it's not quite clear to me what impact this would have on him, that wouldn't be gathered once he got a credit or debit card as an adult. Maybe because he literally purchases from only three places (Apple Store, Microsoft, Roblox) and donates to a panda charity.
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Friends.
Oddly, my children have no such issue.
We aren't here to discuss how great your parenting skills are. My ex has a narcissistic personality disorder and ... well. Any time somebody brags about how great a parent they are - especially when it's in the context of controlling children - I automatically think they aren't a great parent. That's probably just me and you probably are a really great parent, but I promise you I'm not the only one here thinking it.
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Was there another place to get a drink that accepted cash?
You're moving the goalpost. The statement wasn't "there exists a store that still accepts cash", but "many stores no longer accept cash".
They only exist if you keep going to those stores.
The bad idea is those companies then sharing information about children that should be private and parents should have a say in. Blaming parents when companies have outrageous privacy policies regarding child accounts is ridiculous. We have to teach our children to survive in this world.
My 9 year old triplets all have greenlight cards. This article is very disturbing. But they are learning fiscal agency, which is something my generation wasn't taught at all. When I finally got a job (at 15) it was way too late for me. I spent it all on coin-op video games. That might be reasonable at 9, but not at 15.
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Really? Mind if I ask where? As much as cash use has dwindled here in the UK (at least anecdotally) I’ve never come across a store that won’t accept cash. I know a couple that didn’t accept it early in the pandemic (due to fear of covid spreading on cash) but that didn’t last long.
In my village in the UK about half the coffee shops and bakeries and things were going cashless just before the pandemic anyway. I think it’s pretty common now.
Having a saving account teaches kids a lot. Having a debt card teaches them to spend.
Growing up I always had this belief that wealth was about building a big savings account, and that rich people where like Scrooge McDuck swimming in big pools of money.
This is, imho, a fantastic piece of propaganda. It's incredible how often people will say things like "Jeff Bezos is only rich because he owns so much stock!" As soon as you get your first big RSU payout you realize it is insane to keep the majority, or even a sizable portion of your capital in cash.
Even Marx saw that Capital, by its definition, is in motion.
The lesson of a savings account is that you should hand your money over to banks so that they can use it. But most kids aren't taught what it really means to park your capital in a bank. I remember how many times I was given the "miracle of compound interest talk" but nobody get fantastically rich from the growing interest on their savings account.
Today that's even more ridiculous, interest rates are way, way down and inflation is starting to rise. Keeping more than enough money to serve as an emergency fund is the same as just burning some of it for fun.
We are in an insane debt bubble, but that doesn't change the reality of how life works in an insane debt bubble. Using credit to buy things today, when interest rates are low and inflation is rising is far more rational than putting money in a savings account.
A better lesson would be to use that cash to buy things that are useful and can help build skills, which can't be taken by a debt collector. A guitar is a better purchase than a bunch of digital music, a laptop to program on is a better purchase than an ipad, etc.
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Sure, you can give them cash. If the parents aren’t around (e.g. they’re with a babysitter)…they can wait until the parents are around to give them cash.
Is this some weird american thing where kids can’t go outside by themselves? Maybe your kid went to hang out with some friends after school, asks for money to go to the cinema or just to get some food? Why would you go out of your way to make your life difficult by avoiding debit cards?
If I had a kid they would not be allowed to use Apps or have a Google account. Sure I'd give them a laptop, I would even probably give them unsupervised access to the web after they seemed ready, but Apps are no good even for most adults.
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You're kid will be very upset when they are slowly excluded from all of their friend groups when noone wants to email or text just one member of the group. Sad reality of it.
Children get upset when they’re not allowed to get a tattoo or eat candy for dinner. Hell, if they’re not getting upset regularly than you’re probably doing something wrong.