Mobile Phones Driving More Kids To Declare Bankruptcy?
from the gotta-learn-financial-planning-somehow dept
Textually points us to a report in Australia claiming that more teenagers these days are declaring bankruptcy and it's because they're racking up huge mobile phone bills that they weren't expecting. It's the type of story that certainly sounds plausible -- after all, we know that mobile phones are popular with kids, and every once in a while you hear about ridiculous phone bills. It isn't hard to put it together and think that there are some irresponsible or careless kids who need to declare bankruptcy because of these bills. However, the article doesn't provide any evidence that this is really happening. The single source providing the info is a gov't bureaucrat, talking about a study done by the government, which found that many young people didn't know how to deal with high bills -- which is quite different from proof that they're declaring bankruptcy. She does claim that financial counseling services are seeing an increase in young people seeking to declare bankruptcy, but the article doesn't talk to any such service or get any numbers on bankruptcies among young people (or even seek to find out that, if there are such bankruptcy, how many are due to high mobile phone bills). That's not to say it's not happening. After all, the story sounds like one that is plausible to many people. It just would have been nice to have seen a little more concrete evidence, rather than offhand conjecture reported as fact.
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Filed Under: bankruptcy, mobile phones, teenagers
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I've noticed this behavior growing over the past few years (especially on TV news, but also in newspapers) but could never articulate it concisely--this phrase does the job very well.
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If a 29 year old software developer can manage without a cell phone, I think a fifteen year old highschool student can manage. And if they can't, then they or their parents should be able to afford the phone bill.
For $100, I get three cell phones (one for myself, two for other people in my family that I like to keep in touch with across the country) and that includes free weekends, free nights and 2,000 minutes.
Why would you need to declare bankruptcy for $100/mo?! And that's assuming you could actually rack up far more than 2,000 minutes of talk time between the hours of 7am and 7am on weekdays (there are only 2,800 minutes in a month that fall between 7am and 7pm Monday through Friday).
So really, I say fuck them. And I hope this story is real. If parents are idiots and children are idiots, they should suffer. All the better for the smart people in the world to take advantage of their stupidity.
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I do not think they mean child as in what you are meaning because the article is about teenagers and declaring bankruptcy. A teenager can be 18 or 19 and therefore enter into a legally binding contract.
Also if the teenager is emancipated that allows them to enter into legally binding contracts before the age of 18. Then again, this article is about Australia. They might allow 16 year olds to enter into contracts, I know a couple countries that do. I think they mean 18- and 19-year-olds though.
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Double-check my math, but 60x12=720 720x5 (days a week)=3600 3600x4 (weeks a month)=14,400 some software developer. Can't even do math.
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Re: Kids don't get moble phone bills...
Now, me, I use my cell as a phone only, so it's eaisy as fuck to pay.
People who DNL ringtones, use cell-internet, play games... $9.99 each, and often a lot. That is expensive.
And that is collage students. As a collage student myself I know someone who pissed away roughly $2,000 on his cellphone in one month. mind you after that he wised up, and now he also only uses it as a phone.
Texting is expensive, for both sender and revicer.
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Re: Re: Kids don't get moble phone bills...
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thats problably because nobody would call you
you sound like a complete tool...
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Re: thats problably because nobody would call you
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You are right though, social life wise developers probably have the least need of anyone for a cell phone.
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hmmm
It feels so... insightful!
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Re: hmmm
Click through the link Mike provided and see the topic he is calling BS to is, "Mobile phones 'bankrupting' more teens".
http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Mobile-phones-bankrupting-more-teens/2007/11/07/1194 329297045.html
so I dont get who you are trying to slam...
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NON-News
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Kids need to learn that spending money they don't have (i.e. credit cards) can be extremely dangerous, and filing for bankruptcy at such an early age will essentially destroy your credit rating for life. It's up to parents to teach good financial skills to their kids. Unfortunately, we now live in an age where parents often don't give a rip about teaching their kids anything. Instead, they expect the schools to raise their kids. This is NOT a good scenario.
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If kids are not old enough to enter into a legally
Just a thought.
Note to parents: Try "We can't afford it". Worked for me...
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Forget minute plans
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Pathetic.
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Australian telcos are greedy and mean
Until consumer groups and the media started drawing attention to this problem in Australia, Telstra and the other telcos would respond by demanding payment and using aggressive collection agencies. That's why teenagers would declare bankruptcy. For low-income families, it was the only feasible way out of the trap.
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Cheap Mobile Phones
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grow a bigger penis
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