For more information on who and what, see this article from The Third Branch, Bankruptcy Judges Warn Young Consumers about Credit Card Debt (Feb 2004) (via law.com Daily NewsWire, 02-25-04). The article explains, for example, that:
February 24, 2004
Bench and Bar Warn Youth About Credit Debt
What a great story (for a change)! Having seen the sad consequences of overwhelming credit card debt on young consumers, federal bankruptcy judges, with the help of several local bar groups, are trying to use education as deterrence. The National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (NCBJ), is sponsoring an outreach project to inform high school and college students about the consequences of excessive debt and irresponsible credit card use.
The project has developed an interactive, 10-minute video, “Bankruptcy: Don’t Let It Happen to You“. You’ll also find links to other educational sites.
“[Chief Bankruptcy Judge John Ninfo of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of New York] has partnered with a county bar association’s bankruptcy committee to launch a Credit Abuse Resistance Education (CARE) program that encourages middle school, high school and college students to have a budget, differentiate between needs and wants, own only one credit card, and be committed to paying off the balance each month”.
The effort’s success caused Chief Judge John Walker of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to encourage other courts in the circuit to start CARE programs, and several programs are already in progress, with the help of local bar groups.
Bravo.
P.S. Maybe better-informed law students will help us avoid some of the problems that led to my recent dialogue with Scheherazade.
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Many credit card companies prey on young people. When you enroll in college you can check off whether the school can sell your information. The card companies get access to these lists of young 18 year old students. Who are uneducated in undisciplined in proper credit management. Often these card issuers will give the student a rather high introductory credit limit. The reason they do this is because they know many kids still have the financial backing of their parents that will come and save their child when they get stuck in debt. This is a very lucrative practice for the card companies because these students charge up a storm not knowing how to handle they situation they are getting themselves involved in. A warning to any new college students reading this be very wary of taking these offers that you might be getting bombarded with.
Comment by Steve B — April 26, 2007 @ 6:05 pm