Student Credit Cards and Teens: Napalm and Matchsticks?

Teens have been stereotyped to be irresponsible, impulsive spendthrifts who live for nothing but the next gadget, the hottest hairstyle, the most expensive shoes. Most teens are also thought of as people who would be able to max out their credit cards before a week is out. This is according to Hollywood. However, the sad fact is that reality isn't too far behind. With over 80% of college students neck-deep in credit card debt even before they get a job, and a scandalous casualty of 2 youths who took their lives due to credit card debt, one wonders if a teen should even be trusted with a credit card, at all.

There is hope. While even the best student credit cards are definitely no match for fingers that are more like matchsticks to the napalm in the form of credit cards, student credit cards still offer some degree of help for the spendthrift teen. Student credit cards come with lower interest rates. They may even be 0% interest credit cards. They also come with a rewards system that you could work hand in hand with.

Some student credit cards come with rewards for good behavior, such as keeping the balance below the credit limit, cash back for purchases on certain merchandise categories like books, restaurants, movies and music, and even rewards for a good GPA; just present proof. With incentives to “be good” like these, even the best student credit cards could be used as a way to motivate your teens to aim high and reach high.

Two of these great student credit cards include:

Discover Student Card
Citi mtvU Platinum Visa for College Students

Each of these have their rewards systems in place. The table below presents a comparative look at these student credit cards:

While this is no guarantee that your teen won't get into credit card debt, there is still no denying that credit cards could prove to be a handy emergency lifeline to your kids while in college. If you're too scared to trust them fully with even the best student credit cards, entrusting these cards to an adult relative that you fully trust could be a good solution. Otherwise, you'd have to leave your teen's student credit card with him, lay down the ground rules for the use of these, make sure that they've been drilled in the rudiments of responsible financial management, and pray hard that they won't bulldoze the financial lines. Otherwise, tough love would be a good solution: should they get into debt, bailing themselves out would be a good experience for any trigger happy teen.