12-year-old runs up $1,300 FarmVille debt

[lk_wicked]

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNew...29891-qmi.html

wow, better watch kids online, I didn't even know those games cost money. lol My grandkids play them all the time, however their parents do not have any credit cards, and we keep a close eye on them.

[Stickler]

The games dont cost anything but the premium features do. In Farmville you can buy in game cash to use on premium items. Totally pointless to me

[Krysta]

The games dont cost anything but the premium features do. In Farmville you can buy in game cash to use on premium items. Totally pointless to me

Nice how the parents blame the site.
Who set up the account?
And why are they not watching what their kids are doing on the computer?

Sad as it is but the parents can only blame themselves!

[Stickler]

Nice how the parents blame the site.
Who set up the account?
And why are they not watching what their kids are doing on the computer?

Sad as it is but the parents can only blame themselves!

I agree. The parents should have kept their wallets where they cant be reached. Of course there is always the possibility that the kid could have taken the card and put it back. The parents arent totally the blame for this.

[Anapeg]

I agree. The parents should have kept their wallets where they cant be reached. Of course there is always the possibility that the kid could have taken the card and put it back. The parents aren't totally the blame for this.

They are if they are not policing what the rug rats are doing. We have four in our home and no kid is on line but an adult is there and aware. If you care, you take care.

[Stickler]

They are if they are not policing what the rug rats are doing. We have four in our home and no kid is on line but an adult is there and aware. If you care, you take care.

I think the kid should take some of the blame here. At 12 yrs old, he/she should know the difference between right and wrong and could take responsibility for his/her actions.

[bluekrissyspikes]

the kid and the parents are both at fault. i'm sure the kid knew that stealing a credit card from mom and dad was bad and that they shouldn't be buying stuff online without permission. but mom and dad should really be keeping an eye on their kids. i think that hiding your wallet goes a bit too far. they were probably too busy at work to care know what their kids were doing. probably figured the kid was old enough to look after themselves while they were off pursueing their own interests like most parents now do.

[Melanie Booker]

the kid def needs to take responsibilty for this. at that age they know better. but at the same time the parents should be aware of what their child is doing on line. but whos to say that the kid isn;t more computer literate that the parents and that mom and dad wouldn't have a clue what they were doing even if they were monitoring.
sad anyway you look at it. the family is out 1300.00 over a stupid game.

[Melanie Booker]

probably figured the kid was old enough to look after themselves while they were off pursueing their own interests like most parents now do.

like most parents?? thats a pretty broad and negative statement. i would guess that there are plenty more working parents who care about there kids out there than those who 'pursue their own interests'

[HDV]

They have this site called Kwedit. Its for kids. What it is is a site that gives kids credit and then the parents pay kwedit when the kids passes the duck to them r a relative. I could not believe it. They can go to this site, borrow money for these pay games and then when it it is due they pass the "duck" to the parents or a relative through email for them to pay.
This is the link http://kwedit.com/

if I can find the other link i'll post it. Is this not just crazy?

[bluekrissyspikes]

like most parents?? thats a pretty broad and negative statement. i would guess that there are plenty more working parents who care about there kids out there than those who 'pursue their own interests'

yes you know, like going out with friends after work or often in the evenings, spending lots of time at work to further the career or so they can afford the extra car they 'need' or the new tv/snowmachine/whatever. plus whatever other passtimes they indulge in while their time would be better spent at home spending time looking after the kids. how many parents work full days, plus still have time to go to the gym after work and out doing 'adult' things at night. too many. parents are forgetting that being with the kids is the priority, not being off trying to earn as much as they can to keep up with the Jones's and get those designer labels. the most important thing you can give your kids is your time. they don't need all the extra crap people waste their lives working their buts of to get.

[lk_wicked]

holy cow, the 12 year old is certainly old enough to know, right from wrong. And lets face it, kids today are beyond many parents as far as the computer technology goes. Not to mention the average age of kids having sex now, is 12. As horrid as it is to see that, it is reality. I am sure the kid is in serious trouble with mom and dad, and if it was my kid, I would let the charges stick, and make him earn the money to pay mom and dad back.

when my 22 year old son was 9, he stole $200.00, i GOT $100 BACK, and ordered him to do community service for mom and dad, we charged him $1.00 an hour for any chore we could come up with, until it totaled the $100.00 he owed us. He spent a good three months, doing a lot of work to pay us back, and he has never stolen from us since.
O, and he stole the money for yu-gi-oh cards. And the store he bought the cards from, accepted a $100.00 bill, from a 9 year old, no questions asked. My son was in the store, because he was with a group of friends that had joined a club to play competitively with other kids on Queen Street. We would drop him off and pick him up. You think the store owner would have brought it to our attention. whatever..... anyway, the cards and store and those games were forbidden in our house after that date.

It was a lesson well learned from all perspectives, mom, dad, son and siblings. lol

[Anapeg]

I think the kid should take some of the blame here. At 12 yrs old, he/she should know the difference between right and wrong and could take responsibility for his/her actions.

You are, of course, right. What I was saying was to be close enough that when you swing, they know what you are swinging for and so you don't miss. Guidance, grasshopper, guidance. All too often, kidlings are left to their own resources simply because they are being quiet. A quiet child is a plotting child. A good parent tries to remain one step ahead and when you fall behind you reinforce your place. A time out is completely useless in an instance such as this and recouping your loss from a twelve year old is going to be difficult to the unth degree.

[Stickler]

You are, of course, right. What I was saying was to be close enough that when you swing, they know what you are swinging for and so you don't miss. Guidance, grasshopper, guidance. All too often, kidlings are left to their own resources simply because they are being quiet. A quiet child is a plotting child. A good parent tries to remain one step ahead and when you fall behind you reinforce your place. A time out is completely useless in an instance such as this and recouping your loss from a twelve year old is going to be difficult to the unth degree.

I agree. Sometimes during a difficult day, some silence is just what the doctor ordered. Anyone with small children will agree with me. All too often kids are left to be alone and things like this can happen. I hope the parents do the right thing here and learn from this.

[Anapeg]

I agree. Sometimes during a difficult day, some silence is just what the doctor ordered. Anyone with small children will agree with me. All too often kids are left to be alone and things like this can happen. I hope the parents do the right thing here and learn from this.

Your last sentence sums it up. The parents where at the very least equally at fault and both parties need learn.

[Stickler]

Your last sentence sums it up. The parents where at the very least equally at fault and both parties need learn.

Very much agreed. Both parties share the blame here and one can only hope that the parents instill some better values into the child