There is a major debt epidemic that is causing Americans to live in despair. The creditors are now targeting at the young people to get them used to running on the credit treadmill at a awful young age. The large credit card issuers post up regularly right outside of university campuses offering young unemployed students credit cards pre-approved with $5,000 lines of credit. All with the intent of getting students up to their necks in debt so once they graduate they will be paying off their credit cards for the rest of their lives.
This causes many problems for students. One especially aggravating problem is that kids need to take time away from studying to work more hours to pay off completely avoidable credit card bills. Some instances force young people to completely drop out of school to get full time jobs to pay off their debts.
For anyone who has seen the consumer debt documentary ‘Maxed Out’ you can see first hand how bad a credit card debt situation can affect students. There were two kids whose loving parents were interviewed, both of whom committed suicide over their overwhelming debts that they owed. The harassment from lowlife collectors didn’t at all help out either. Plus many more kids fall into deep depression because of the stressful debt situation in.
These credit card companies even go to the extent of hiring other college kids to solicit their credit cards within the universities. Some students will earn up to $20 for every student who applies to get a line of credit. And I am sure there are many more tactics they are using to sign up as many unknowing college students as they possibly can.
One way to reverse this epidemic would be to teach students in high school before leaving for college about the associated consequences that come with having credit cards. There should be a must take class adopted into the curriculum of high school seniors educating them on what could happen if they abuse credit cards. The class should also teach seniors how to properly manage their income to avoid any stressful financial problems in college.
Debt settlement is a very attractive method of credit card debt reduction for the college students that have found themselves in a overwhelming debt situation that they can no longer bear to handle themselves. It will help college students save a lot of money and become released from the horrors of debt within a few years, so when they graduate they will not be carrying a large debt mountain over their heads
Steve Martin is a debt analyst and research assistant with the US Consumer Advocate, which primarily practices in credit card debt settlement.
- Steve Martin
Highlights 
January 17th, 2008 