Is it an American thing for it to be normal to have a car when you're still in school? Here in the UK people rarely have cars while they're still in school unless they have majorly rich parents. It's the norm to have to rely on public transport until you get a decently paid job.

in australia, most of us have a car whilst we are in our last two years of high school, so anywhere between 16 - 19 years old. and im pretty sure most of us also dont have a decently paid job or majorly rich parents.

#36: Ditto Canada. Outside of major cities (and even in some of those) getting around requires a vehicle. We're a really spread-out country. I'm guessing that's true for most of Australia and the U.S. too.

#36 not in sydney, especially the inner circle, none of us have cars as its easier and quicker ( not to mention cheaper and leaving a lighter greenhouse footprint ) to use our legs or public transport.

34-- depending where you are in the US, you need a vehicle to get around in. Only major metropolitan areas have great public transportation, and even some of that isn't too reliable. For example, Dallas/ Ft. Worth is a huge area, but the dart is somewhat limited.

Why have I been downvoted for simply asking a question? I'm 19 and I know a grand total of two people around my age who have cars, they're both older than me and have rich parents. Everyone else that I know gets buses or trains, none of us can afford cars including me, and I have two jobs.

Mostly it has to do with the excellent transportation services and high parking fees in Europe. Having a car in Europe really is a luxury because you can go anywhere by train or subway etc, and parking fees are so high there's no reason to have a car. In america and Canada it's a necessity, basically other than a few places we don't have public transport and parking isn't that expensive. Naturally it's sort of a norm here to have a car around your final years of highschool, I know like 2 people who don't have a car xP

In that case I don't understand why someone didn't just simply say that instead of downvoting my question like crazy. I wasn't being rude, I was genuinely curious because yes, the car situation here is completely different, and the idea of 16-19 year olds all having cars is very strange to me (especially as you have to be 17 to even get a license in the UK!) I wouldn't say public transport here is great though, it can be extremely overpriced and unreliable.

preach

I agree on the gift part. OP should keep the money as it is a gift, but why should she pay tuition? that's not a parenting requirement. it would be nice, but school is so expensive anyway that that's what loans and grants are for.

says who? how do you know? my mums car is her livelihood, her job includes travelling to a lot of peoples houses. without her car she cant do her job. how do you know ops mother isnt in the same boat? cause in that situation, NO their education is NOT more important that her actually being able to do her job.

and why exactly sHOULD ops mum pay his tuition? she works hard for her money and you dont know her financial situation. this belief that parents should be required or obligated to pay for schooling is bullshit and so pathetically self entitled and absorbed. your parents have expenses too.

#23 > So ensuring that your kid gets an education and therefore doesn't end up in a low paid job is not a parental requirement? Why even bother send them to school then? It's not a parental requirement.

I don't understand how some people mind work : among my familly and friends, it seems normal that you would be happy to pay for your child education or at least help him/her if you can afford it. Parents are proud that their children has an highest education than themselves. And that does not mean the children think they are entitled to the help of there parent and that they are not greatful for it. And in term of investments, in general, having a better education garanties you a better job and a higher salary. So helping your child to pay for tuition is like helping yourself in the future.

*have , *their

It's a parental obligation to have your child go through grade school. Not everyone can pay for university, or had the grades to get in. It's unreasonable to ask your parents to pay tuition if every child. What if there is five kids in your family? At $30 000 each, that's $150 000. As a parent you can try, but as a child you should respect your parents and at least try to help. If OPs mom gave OP money for school, and OP didn't go to school, it's fair to ask for it back. My parents paid for us to go through lifeguard courses so we could pay our own tuition. My brother is on his 3rd degree and I'm on my 2nd, and we've done fine without our parents paying for school itself.

Oh my Lord. My mom is NOT helping me pay for college, I now live in my own apartment 9 hours away from her. It's a matter of principle for me: it was a gift. She currently makes $78,000 a year, well within her means. She didn't need the money, but we have a tense relationship not helped by her bipolar disorder.

it's the entitlement mentality of the younger generation.

Someone will have to explain to me why so many Americans think parents shouldn't pay for their kid's education. Following that logic, parents shouldn't pay for food, clothes or housing either. Education is not like wanting an xbox. It is very much likely going to determine if you can have a decent career rather than a dead-end job with low wages for the rest of your life. So why on earth shouldn't a parent be involved in its financing? My parents paid for my education on the grounds that they were expecting me to study hard, look after myself properly (I was living away) and get good grades, all which I did. That didn't make me a spoiled princess but rather helped me to concentrate on my academics. I got a good job a couple of months after graduation on from that day on, have been fully independent. It's been 8 years and I haven't since asked a dime to my parents. Education should be a right, not a privilege to people who can afford it.

No op does not sound like an entitled jerk, also why is it the parent is just buying a car now if say she needed it for employment reasons? Never did op say that her mother should be paying for her education. You sound like those parents that put guilt on their child for needing basic necessities ans not being able to buy it themselves! Then later on in life demand 18 years worth of money. Guess what one has to be a hard ass worker to juggle three jobs and ****** school! It would be a different story if say op was a drop out livin on momma's couch. And paying money that op's own mother gave them is just adding on to the stress, times are tough and family shouldnt make it tougher.

Plus, it sounds to me as if OPs mother blew his college fund on a car. At least that's how I interpreted it. If that's the case, OP has every right to be upset. And can someone please explain to me why so many Americans here think that parents shouldn't have to spend a dime on their kid's education as if education in the US isn't ridiculously expensive and you don't literally need a college degree to get a decent paying job? One would think that parents would want to help out their own child as best as they could.

25, Don't have kids.

You want to get out of college/university with no student debt? Work hard and get a scholarship. It's not you parents job to pay for YOUR education. Do you want them to buy a house for you when you move out too?

32- Higher educational costs in the USA are so high that it is not even funny. For the average family to be able to send their child to college or university in-state they need to begin saving around the time the child is born. Even then, by the time they are ready to attend it's highly unlikely that saved money will cover much. It is just not practical to expect parents who work hard to take care of you until you are 18 (and already sacrificed so much) to continue doing so after you're a legal adult. I have worked hard to not only pay for but excel in my higher educational degrees and it wasn't until the last year that my parents had money to help. This they offered, it was not expected or required but freely offered out of a genuine desire to help. I think that means more than feeling as if I was entitled to their help simply because one gave the sperm and the other ruined her body to give me life.