A growing number of financial institutions offer teens credit cards that they say promote financial independence. Unfortunately, many of those cards can cause teens to slip into deep debt.

WHAT TO DO:

If your teen is financially responsible, set up a joint or secured credit card and avoid the monthly fees of prepaid cards. But if your child is starting college, setting up a prepaid card may be a better choice to keep your child from leaping at seductive on-campus credit card offers.