How is it teaching responsibility when the parents are limiting it’s use? It’s not. Mommy might as well be holding their hand and telling them what they can and cannot do.

We as parents and consumers need to stop looking for magic pills to solve our problems and do our dirty work. We need to teach our kids what to do and why based on sound financial principals, and then back it up with our own positive financial behavior.
Mr. Not the Jet Set´s last blog ..Dresser Take Two

I will set limits – you can only spend it on gas, toiletries, etc. and only a certain amount. If they spend too much I will take the card away for a month. This worked when I was younger (never got mine taken away but my sister did plenty of times).
David@DINKS Finance´s last blog ..Credit Card "Convenience" Checks

Parents should be training their children in the art of proper money management from day one. That is proper education.

However, we do not live in a perfect world, and a lot of parents are just waking up to the reality that they have not properly trained their now teenage children in the art of personal finance.

So what’s the answer?

I suppose this card is one way of handling that brutal task, but I share some of the same concerns as Mrs Micah and the other commentators – fees, fees, fees.

I think a better option would be to sit them down and help them form a budget around the money they already have. Put in the time to work with them on this, then pray that it sinks in! If not, they will learn their lesson one way or another…
Matt Jabs´s last blog ..Spending Filters – How I Save Money On Just About Everything

The problem was that the travel company’s teen Visa came with a lot of fees, and required at least a $25/month automatic transfer from my mom. So there was always about $22 coming in every month ($25-$3 monthly fee). This was really nice for me, especially when I still had it going off to college! My mom didn’t mean to suddenly start giving me an allowance, she just never bothered to cancel the card.

I don’t think the card taught me anything at all about financial responsibility, since it had an automatic allowance tied to it, and after my trip, I almost never added my own money to it. Mainly because adding my own money was a pain – I had to give money to my mom and then have her log in and deposit the money onto the card via her checking account. What I did learn is that ATM fees HURT, a LOT! The card charged me $3 at the ATM, and the bank ATM charged me $2. $5 to get money out of the bank?!? I learned quickly that using the card itself to buy things directly was a lot better than getting money at the ATM.

It did get me comfortable with online banking, but I can’t really say that it was a benefit either way. It was helpful for my trip to Italy, but after that, it was just sort of something I had. Of course, I lived in the middle of nowhere with no car, so I didn’t have a job in high school… maybe a card like this would be more useful to teens who actually have income. I can only speak as to my own experience with it.
Stephanie PTY´s last blog ..Net Worth Update: August 2009

However, the real test is definitely a real credit card. I think that if your teen learn to manage his debit card properly, it should be easier for him to manage a real credit card and build a strong credit history.

I would not put too much restriction on the debit card at first. It may be a great idea to leave your kid spend all his money within a week and then realize that he has to work astronomic number of hours to get his money back. We all learn from our mistakes right? At least, his credit score would not be hurt
The Financial Blogger´s last blog ..5 Tricks for a Smooth Back to School – A lot of Changes This Year

If you’ve already taught your kid basic financial sense, then you’re right it’s probably unnecessary.

@Zella nice. When a parent has good credit, it’s thoughtful for them to do something like that. If they have bad credit, of course, then it’s better just to teach the kid to learn from their mistakes.

Also, parents can always add their kid as an authorized user without telling them and without getting an additional card (typically you have to specifically request that a card be sent). My mother did that– it wasn’t until I pulled my credit report when I was 18/19 that I found out she had done so.
Zella´s last blog ..We’re buying a house!