Parenting Daily

Have you heard of Visa Buxx? It’s like a pre-paid credit card for kids and teens that parents can put money on. Up until now, I’ve never really investigated it. It didn’t seem like anything I’d be interested in helping my kids get, since I find the idea of a child having a credit card (of any sort!) to be distasteful, to say the least. But I know that I depend heavily on my debit card and, sure, that comes straight out of my checking account, but it’s kind of the same concept. So I looked up the Visa Buxx tonight and apparently there are two versions—one for 12 years old and under, and one for 13 years and up. Pay Jr. runs both programs and you can see details here. My point in bringing it up isn’t so much to say whether it is good or bad, but to debate both sides. On the one hand, I would like my children to be prepared for what the world is like, and it seems it’s an increasingly plastic world. On the other hand, having plastic instead of cash is kind of a disconnect. Can you learn the true value of money when you aren’t dealing in cold, hard cash? What are your thoughts?  

Trackback URI | Comments RSS