Are most teens "desperately poor"?

I recently started posting on another board and the thread concerned Apple's profits. iPhones/iPads.

Thinking of the iPhone brats over Christmas, I asked "How many of those consumers were spoiled-ass teenagers?"

These are the responses

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So what if teenagers buy iphones
"Spoiled ass teenagers' (your phrase) buy lots of stuff: iphones, Nike sneakers, $4 lattes at Starbucks. Do you think that they shouldn't spend money? And for what its worth, I know a lot of teens that buy those things with money they earn at after school and summer jobs.

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If every teenager in the world were spoiled-ass, it would be a better world. Unfortunately, most teens are desperately poor.

What do you guys think?

American teens are spoiled.

That's a pretty broad statement. The assertion that I question is that a lot of teens pay for their phones and ipods with money they earn. I highly doubt that. I think Moomy and Duhddy are forking over for that shit, because the kid screams bloody murder just like it has all its life, and gets whatever the fuck it wants.

I mean, think about it. Every teenager is desperately poor without its pahrunts to give it a roof over its head, food, clothes, etc. Some of them just have parents who are better off than others.

Where I live, all I see are teens who have everything they could possibly want and more. Not only do they have every gadget, mobile phone & games console on the market, they all wear branded clothes. By branded clothes I mean the latest 'fashionable' label, which is currently Superdry (or Superchav as I call it - the other Brits will understand.....unless they wear it themselves...oops!) or Jack Wills. Brands that I, as a single late thirties adult working full time, couldn't possibly afford even if I wanted to. Clad head to toe in expensive clothing, eg sixty quid for a shirt, my entire outfit barely cost that. But then, I don't have over-indulgent parents with more money than sense.

I'm not going the "when I was a kid we were so poor we lived in a paper bag at the side road" route, but everything i had was second hand or home made. To have new, shop-bought clothes was an absolute rarity. I really did go to school in shoes that had massive holes in the soles, and a bit of cardboard inside. As for games consoles, they hadn't been invented! Well, unless you count Binatone tennis and later on an Atari!

If I see someone with an iphone and wearing expensive clothes it's hard for me to think they're poor, regardless of where they live.

It's probably part of where I live, but the teens (and pre-teens/tweens/etc) all have nice "stuff." They drive better cars than us, they wear expensive clothes, they all have the latest gadgets, and the girls all have designer handbags. Even little kids have iPhones these days!!

There is no way they could afford this on an "after-school" job salary. The PARENTS are the ones who are buying this for their kids. I'm not even sure what these kids will have to look forward to when they grow up, as they will have already had the best of the best. I guess they will continue to live at home and sponge off of their parents because there will be no jobs for them after they complete their 10 years in college.

LOL. I know a girl who bought her 6 year old daughter a Tiffany's bracelet....and that's just where it allll begins....eyes2

She said when her daughter turns 16 she'll buy her a brand new Mercedes so that she never gets with a guy with a car that isn't as good as hers.:crz

Wait till the little princess gets a good smack of reality when the real world doesn't work to her favor....Will probably continue the vicious cycle like mother like daughter. End up meeting a rich man and pumping out a few kids to lock him down....wash, rinse, repeat

according to the national center for child poverty, in 2010 the national percentage of children living under the poverty line was 21%. even if you look at mississippi -one of the poorest states, for example- the percentage of children living under the poverty level was about 30%.

now i personally don't think anyone should live under the poverty level in this country, but that's neither here nor there. to say "most" kids live in poverty is ridiculous.

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cfmoneybags
LOL. I know a girl who bought her 6 year old daughter a Tiffany's bracelet....and that's just where it allll begins....eyes2

She said when her daughter turns 16 she'll buy her a brand new Mercedes so that she never gets with a guy with a car that isn't as good as hers.:crz

And she will bring home a leech wearing a wifebeater, driving a rusted S-10 pickup with truck balls. Because he LUUUUUVS meeee.....

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From a bottle cap message on a Magic Hat #9 beer: Condoms Prevent Minivans
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I want to pick up a bus full of unruly kids and feed them gummi bears and crack, then turn them loose in Hobby Lobby to ransack the place. They will all be wearing T shirts that say "You Could Have Prevented This."

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navi8orgirl

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cfmoneybags
LOL. I know a girl who bought her 6 year old daughter a Tiffany's bracelet....and that's just where it allll begins....eyes2

She said when her daughter turns 16 she'll buy her a brand new Mercedes so that she never gets with a guy with a car that isn't as good as hers.:crz

And she will bring home a leech wearing a wifebeater, driving a rusted S-10 pickup with truck balls. Because he LUUUUUVS meeee.....

Hey now , I have a rusted S-10 larious (no wife beater or truck balls though)


Desperately poor? No they are not. That is when one can not meet Maslow's basic needs. An I Pad is not a basic need. Food, water, shelter and sanitation are basic needs. Unless most teens are living under bridges they are not desperately poor.

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“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”

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lisbeth
It's probably part of where I live, but the teens (and pre-teens/tweens/etc) all have nice "stuff." They drive better cars than us, they wear expensive clothes, they all have the latest gadgets, and the girls all have designer handbags. Even little kids have iPhones these days!!

There is no way they could afford this on an "after-school" job salary. The PARENTS are the ones who are buying this for their kids. I'm not even sure what these kids will have to look forward to when they grow up, as they will have already had the best of the best. I guess they will continue to live at home and sponge off of their parents because there will be no jobs for them after they complete their 10 years in college.

That's how it is over here. They drive nicer cars than me, have a better phone and clothes than me, and they don't even have to work and save up their own money for it. The girls also get a brand new pair of $200 Uggs every year. The bank of moomie and duhddie is always open. They don't even work "after-school" jobs around this neighborhood, which is one of the reasons we have such a hard time finding good help at my job.

Short answer, no. It seems children in general are either dirt fucking broke and Mommy's got chronic welfare-itis, or they are plastered head to toe in the latest fashions with the latest phones in their blinged-out hands and driving the latest vehicle, all of which is financed by Moo and Duh. Sometimes it's a mix of both - Mommy's broke and she uses her welfare bennies to buy expensive toys, clothes and jewelry for herself and her snookums.

And of course they are far too good to work. Why should they need to work for money when they can borrow Daddy's credit card for the day and spend a few thousand bucks at the mall? These are the delightful children who grow up feeling entitled to money for doing absolutely nothing, and then they never get jobs because they feel they deserve loads of money for not lifting a finger, so they'll be professional students, go on welfare, get a sugar daddy or sugar momma, marry a rich person, or continue mooching off Mommy and Daddy forever. Anything to stay hip and cool while being lazy.

Parents might try to buy their kids' affections and friendships, but it hurts them in the long run when they don't know how to work.