<p>My kids have both. Debit cards with their money in it and credit cards that we cover. The credit cards are for emergencies, gasoline, and other stuff that we pay for. We also have over-draft protection on their debit cards. </p>
<p>When older son was a frosh, we had to get on him for overspending on our credit card. He didn’t have a part-time job as Fall Frosh, so we were paying for most of his day to day expenses that semester. Once he tired of campus food, he and pals started eating off campus and the credit card bills shot up. This was annoying because he had the “all you can eat” plan at school, but had stopped using it. :(</p>
<p>Some kids are very good about remembering what they’ve charged. Some are just awful, “What? I have hardly charged ANYTHING!!” And, then you show them that they charged 6 different times within 72 hours.</p>