How Much is Too Much for a Party?
This New York Times article about the TV
show My Super Sweet 16 really
got me thinking about spending. The show, if you are unfamiliar with it, is a reality program that follows the planning
and preparation for some of the most expensive teenage birthday parties in the country. Many of the parties cost upwards
of $200,000, not including the gifts of cars, clothes and jewelry that many of the lucky kids receive in addition.
The show has its fans and its critics, but the critics are always the most vocal, saying that such "celebrations of self... [are] an excuse to prolong the whiny, self-centered greediness that gives infantile a bad name." In contrast, a mother whose daughter appeared on the show said "Unless they were crazy or hated their child, any parent who was financially able would do it." Would they? Is there a point where the spending for a child's entertainment should stop?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Patricia Apr 28th 2006 5:27PM
These parents are simply training their daughters in declass conspicuous consumption. These girls may have a difficult time in adult life, when the lifeline to mommy and daddy is broken. I suggest they spend the money on the girls education, because people like this rarely have fortunes that last more than a generation, and someone will need to get a job.
Harrison Apr 29th 2006 1:41AM
I do agree with you Patricia that they should spend on proper education, but you must realize that they are just 16, and until they are out of high school that will most likely not be an option yet. The show may steer many to think that their childs will not get any education and look completely like dependent people when they become adults, but I have come to realize that they may be the ones who end up with the best education. Ivy league school and such, and although they may forever have an "i deserve the best" attitude, I do not believe they will be let off their parental wings with out the proper preparation to succeed in life.
I guess this show really is a show about the haves and the have nots, because if you think about that quote, a lot of parents would actually love to do such an extravagant thing for their children if they could.
Shaun Apr 29th 2006 1:47PM
I'm not rich, and I spent over $100 a kid on my son's 7th birthday party. And I did everything myself from making invitations to baking cupcakes. So I can understand how the parties end up costing so much. I do think the parties are over the top though. Very few of them are really nice. They are too showy and tacky. I could understand all the money on a nice dinner dance. I would spend $220K on that, but not on most of the parties I've seen. And I've seen all of the episodes with my 15 year old niece.
Patricia Apr 29th 2006 10:45PM
I disagree with Harrison that these children will be properly prepared in life because their parents will make sure it happens. These parents typically are not willing to discipline and provide limits to their children, both of which are necessary to ensure they become balanced adults. The preoccupation with shopping, socializing, parties, etc. will get in the way of academics. "Just because you can afford it, doesn't mean you should," applies to this situation.
Aaron Apr 30th 2006 7:59PM
The most fun party I had was just my friends and I firing BB guns into the woods bordering my backyard.
Cost: about $60 worth of food, drinks, BBs and CO2 cartridges.
PXP May 1st 2006 2:27PM
This show is the 3rd or 4th sign of the apocalypse. All those kids on that show are just terrible human beings. The parents are no better. They "raised" them that way afterall.
And going to an ivy league school does not make you in any way more intelligent, and certainly not a "better person" as many of the people who went to the schools would like to believe.
That show and the people on it are sad.
Britton Yoder May 11th 2006 2:42PM
Analytical viewers should have realized several things about the young girls on this television program. Firstly, when it comes down to it, very few of these girls actually had a good time at these lavish parties. Instead they spent the entire party doing one or more of the following:
Yelling at their parents.
Yelling at their friends.
Pouting for some odd reason.
Kicking former friends out of the party.
Worrying about being embarrassed.
Worrying if the hundreds of people there, are enjoying the party.
The question must be posed, where should the blame be placed? The parents naturally! These children have been raised to know no bounds and have no respect. I was raised in a relatively affluent household and am currently a university student. Since the age of 14 I have worked at least 20 hours a week and beginning at the end of my high school years I began working at least 40 hours a week. I did not work for financial reasons but rather because that is what my parents expected of me. I am 22 now, granted I will take a little longer to complete my degree, but I have managed several real estate businesses, maintained a 3.85, managed a work force of 36 individuals at a local retailer, paid my way to see 36 countries. I have learned to survive and excel in the world, because things were not handed to me. What I do not understand is this: Most of America?s wealthy began with very little and built an empire for themselves. For the most part America?s wealthy understand or at least remember what hard work is and what it did for them. These parents are doing a complete disservice to their children. Even if these parents plan to financially support their children for their entire lives, it will never lead to true happiness and contentment.