Is that 13-year-old holding a Prada bag: How much is too much when spoiling kids?

Fig1. Nicolette Gray on Rodeo Drive

For most, a designer item is something that needs to be achieved, worked for, it’s something that cannot be obtained immediately and requires hard work. For others, they can simply tap daddy’s credit card the second they spot something they want. Now, I am not against spoiling a kid. I myself am not one to speak since I got my first designer bag at 15.

However, when I did get the chance to receive said bag, it was made clear to me that I was deemed understanding of the value and hard work that goes into making a luxury purchase. Thus said, this week’s topic revolves around today’s teens and how some of them have grown up to know nothing but instant gratification from non-other than their parents.

Back when I was growing up, even though it wasn’t even that long ago, I would spend my free time on YouTube as any other 13-year-old would do. Content those days would vary greatly but what I would indulge in were creators such as the infamous Nicolette Gray. Known to be exceptionally bratty and self-centered, Nicolette was the epidemy of a Rodeo Drive mall rat. Famous for spending ludicrous amounts of money on designer goods as a teenager, Nicolette practically normalized her impulsive actions to eyes of her viewers. Almost every video of hers would consist of hauls filled with designer goods, tours of her extensive closet and lavish home, and rides in what she’d call her “G-Wagon”, her Mercedes G-Class SUV.

Fig2. Nicolette receiving a Mercedes G-Class SUV from her mother.

Now looking back, although no one forced her to start creating this content, the only question that comes to mind is “where did this all start?”, and the only answer I could come up with was her parents. Since she’s always been given an extravagant life from her parents, she’s never known anything else but the crème de la crème of luxury. The root of her designer craze can only stem from her parents since you are most influenced by your parental figures. Moreover, most of her purchases are most likely charged to one of her parent’s cards even though she does make some money off her channel. This leads me to my point, how much can we spoil a child, on a designer, fashion point of view? I’m not necessarily one to speak however, in my opinion there must be a limit to how much designer goods a child can have.

Not only does it provide them with a fake sense of reality by having any luxury item they want, but it also deprives them of the learning of working for what they own. There’s nothing wrong with giving your teen something nice and more luxurious, however it should be in moderation, that’s if you don’t want them to become greedy, bratty, and conceded like Gray.

A more recent, spoiled-rotten teen is Jadyn Xavier. Daughter of fashion and lifestyle influencer Brittany Xavier, Jadyn has been known to be gifted countless costly presents from her mother. Although, their pre-fame life was rather simple and sometimes hard considering Brittany was a young single mom, they have managed to build a more-than-comfortable life for themselves, partially thanks to social media. Thus said, Brittany has shared many videos of her gifting her daughter quite expensive and luxurious presents.

Although I don’t personally follow her on social media, I do see her content as it often shows up on my TikTok “For You” page. Recently, I came across a video of her packing her younger children’s easter baskets and making one for Jayden. Now, easter baskets have no age limit, however what Brittany decided to include for Jadyn could serve as a good debate. Some of her basket’s content included a Nest candle, that range from 111$ to 250$, a 115$ bikini, a 94$ 100% Mulberry silk sleep mask, a 70$ skin mist, and not one piece of chocolate. After watching that video, I was quite frankly speechless.

Fig3. Brittany and Jadyn Xavier.

Not that I envied what she got, I was simply at a loss for words and uncomprehending why Brittany judged this as a normal easter basket, since last time I checked, an easter basket contained easter chocolates. And once this basket was gifted, Jadyn’s reaction wasn’t as enthusiastic as one would imagine after receiving such a generous basket, almost ungrateful. Thus said, constantly gifting teens costly items can cause these kids to regard this as a normal occurrence and possibly lead them to become less and less grateful with time.

Briefly, receiving more lavish and exorbitant gifts as a teen can be fun however if they become a reoccurring event, these gifts could cause these teenagers to become greedy like Nicolette Gray or rather unfazed and practically ungrateful like Brittany Xavier’s daughter Jadyn. Since these gifts usually come from the parents, they should think twice before gifting their kids more high cost presents.

Stay tuned for next week’s topic: “A Blast from the Past: How older generations’ past trends are coming back stronger than ever with the younger generations”. And if you like what you’re reading, subscribe to Gen F for more!

Sources

Nicolette Gray, Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/@NicoletteGray

Brittany Xavier, TikTok, https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMMHrTjHJ/