I’m tired of kids getting away with many things just because they are not 18 years old, when in reality these kids know what they are getting into when they do things. I recently watched a case on the Judge Judy show where a 17 year old girl had asked to buy her older cousin’s car and pay over time. Her older cousin got her mother who is her aunt involved by asking her if the daughter would be able to pay for it. The mother was well aware of the situation and answered yes to the question because she said her daughter had just started working at a local establishment and could afford it. So the older cousin gave the younger cousin the car, but kept it in her name since the younger cousin hadn’t begun or finished paying for the car.
Judge Judy said and as we all know, if a person is not 18 years old, they can’t enter into any legally binding transaction. Even if they do, they cannot be held legally accountable to the terms of the agreement because they are under age. The older cousin thought because the younger cousin’s mother was present and aware of everything about the situation, she could hold both the mother and daughter responsible. Unfortunately that was not the case, unless she had a written contract directly with the mother who can have one because she’s an adult.
Judge Judy rightfully said it was a “family issue” not a “legal issue.” The older cousin was visibly very angry, while the younger cousin and her mother knowing what they had done and the “not 18 years old” clause that was getting them off the hook, stood and looked smug. After the show, the young cousin who wasn’t even asked anything in court due to her being underage, stared arrogantly into the camera, and said “ I hit a medium in that car. Why should I pay for something that endangers my life?” I guess in her world they must moving medians and stationary cars, because obviously the problem was that she didn’t know how to drive and drove the car into a stationary median.
Judge Judy rightfully said it was a “family issue” not a “legal issue.” The older cousin was visibly very angry, while the younger cousin and her mother knowing what they had done and the “not 18 years old” clause that was getting them off the hook, stood and looked smug. After the show, the young cousin who wasn’t even asked anything in court due to her being underage, stared arrogantly into the camera, and said “ I hit a medium in that car. Why should I pay for something that endangers my life?” I guess in her world they must moving medians and stationary cars, because obviously the problem was that she didn’t know how to drive and drove the car into a stationary median.
Judge Judy was right by saying it was a family matter, because legally anyone under 18 years old can’t be held to the terms of an agreement. However, the mother was clearly wrong to support her daughter in getting over on someone else by getting out of the situation with the "I'm not 18" clause. She was just concerned about the short term need to get herself and her daughter off the hook for something they both knew they agreed to. What she may not have realized is that she is teaching her daughter not to be responsible for her actions and find any loop hole to get out of situations she puts herself in.
I’m sure the daughter, just like many teenagers today, took that lesson and ran with it, but what she doesn’t know is that as she gets older and continues living life, loop holes get smaller and smaller, till they become non-existent and at some point in time she will need to face the consequences of her actions. So she will definitely learn her lesson in due time. Another lesson she will learn is that karma is real and comes back to bite hard.
As far as I’m concerned, if you are 17 years, you are old enough to know what you are doing by asking for, receiving and driving a car. Therefore you are old enough to be held to the terms of the agreement. If she was my daughter she would have had to pay for the car over time, just as she promised in the first place, so she can become a woman of good character because that’s how you build character in people by starting when they are young. Apparently her mother is not a woman of noble character and she has a daughter who is being taught not to be one either…
Parents shouldn’t cover their kids’ bad behavior nor encourage them to do what is wrong because they will definitely end up paying for it at some point in their lives. 
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