I don’t parent a teenager… it just seems like I do, sometimes.
Fortunately, my daughter is young enough that her Christmas wish list wraps around the block, and I’m not forced to rack my brain trying to come up with stocking stuffers I know she will enjoy.
This is not the case with my friends who have tweens and teens at home. According to one of my pals, with each passing year she is tempted to pull the plug on the stocking stuffing tradition because she simply can’t come up with worthwhile gifts to cram into her kids’ oversized Christmas socks.
Actually, I suggested stuffing her kids’ stockings with socks, but she quickly shot down that idea. Apparently, teens are not that into novelty socks, and in my pal’s case, finding such “uncool” colorful footwear in their stockings could trigger a whine fest unfitting of such a festive holiday.
Okay, scratch the cute Christmas socks idea.
Speaking of scratching, how about scratch-off lottery tickets?
I thought I hit the jackpot on that suggestion, but that was before I received an email from the National Campaign on Problem Gambling. The group just unveiled its 2009 holiday campaign, which basically chastises parents who fill their children’s stockings with lottery tickets.
Okay, maybe chastise is a bit harsh. Let me rephrase that: This year the council is teaming up with the International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems to discourage parents from giving the gift of Lady Luck during the holiday season.
According to recent studies, problem gambling can start in the teen years and progress as the individual ages. By stuffing your kids’ Christmas stockings with lottery tickets you could be introducing them to a lifetime of gambling problems.
Scratch off fever turns deadly… I’m afraid to joke about it.
A recent study estimates that roughly 20 percent of teens receive lottery tickets for Christmas, most coming from mom or dad. What’s more, several states are currently offering special “stocking stuffer” lottery games, including South Dakota (where you could win up to $1,000) and Arkansas (where winners could score $15,000).
In most states, the minimum age for purchasing a lottery ticket is eighteen. In other states you must be 21 years old to buy a lottery ticket. Still, most states will not allow minor children to cash out gifted tickets. An adult must collect the winnings, and decide whether to hand over the dough to the kid… but that’s fodder for another blog.
With scratch-off lottery tickets now a stocking stuffing no-no, what does one fill a teen’s Christmas sock with?
Do you give out lottery tickets as gifts?
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