Is It Her Money or Isn't It?

There's a radio ad in the morning for Chase.  A teenageish girl calls her dad to say she's at the movies and she has her debit card.  The next message is her calling to say they're going to the mall.  Then he gets a message from Chase saying that someone has charged more than $20.00 to that account and so he calls the daughter to ask her about her charge.  I have many many issues with this commercial.

1. She seems to check in a lot.  I know times are different but I don't think teenagers need to call when they've arrived at the movies to say they made it.  That's a bit excessive. 
2. Is this money in her account HER money or her parents'?  If it is her money, he shouldn't care how she is spending it.  Let her learn the responsibility to spend it wisely.
3. If it is her parents' money, why does she have a card linked to their account?  And, why not let her make the mistake and work out how to fix it when she gets home.  Calling instantly to correct her behavior doesn't give her the opportunity to accept responsibility for her actions.
4. If it is money she is not supposed to have access to (like a college fund) see #3.
5. If it is "emergency" money, why would she need emergency money?  Clearly she's got a cell phone and can call a parent if she needed cash in an emergency.  Otherwise I still say let her make the mistake and have the opportunity to accept the responsibility for the actions.   

All in all the commercial seems to define helicopter parents in a fairly clear way. 

Comments

[usedtobeme]

Joanne,

With the exception of the daughter not needing to call and check in, I agree with what you have said. However, I think, especially in this day and age of weirdos, the very least my teenager can do is call and let me know she has arrived somewhere. If she went missing, how would we know where to start looking for her? Maybe I'm paranoid having lived the kidnapping dream, but I think it makes perfect sense that she would call.

[Peeved Michelle]

When I was a teenager, we didn't have cell phones and I don't think we had debit cards either. I didn't have to call my mom at each stop on my itinerary to update her about my status. Ironically, she could now follow me on Twitter and know what I am doing every minute of every day.

Also, how is $20 a suspicious amount of money to spend at the mall?

I can't imagine I would behave the same way as this father when my girls are teenagers.

[Al_Pal]

Gah. totally ridiculous.