Is it a BAD thing to be a "spoiled" kid? Want to know your opinion...

[gamarada717]

Shartly, you always make good posts on things like this that require debating. I say we make an AO debating team!

[Albinonewt]

Spoiled?

There's nothing wrong with providing for your kid or providing for their hobby. For a parent to buy a kid a really stacked setup so he can play tournament ball and excel at something (is he any good?) is fine. I don't think most of us complain when a parent buys their kid a $1,000 trumpet or hockey equipment to play at the level they're aiming for, so I don't begrudge a kid for having their stuff provided.

Now, that being said there is a danger to spoiling a kid too much. If any kid grows up with everything handed to them they lack a certain appreciation for working for things and just a misunderstanding of the way money works. Neither of those is a good thing.

And being spoled really shouldn't last forever. Once you're in highschool you really should be working to some degree or another and probably through college as well (some people simply do too much not to, drinking doesn't count). In college internships and/or summer jobs are a must. That way when you actually get out you've been exposed to more then just handouts.

[walker2287]

I think it depends, if the person starts with an angel i thinks its wrong. if the have a cocky additude about it its wrong. if they dont play much and have an angel(just using angel as an example) its wrong. if they dont know how to use it, its wrong. i have a friend whos parents are loaded and he started with a tippy and worked up to an x-mag (arnt we all jealious). and he really nice about it lets people use his backup gun (hypermag) and doesnt let it get to his head. I mean he wont appreatiate his gun as much as me cuz im 16 and i work 40 hrs a week at mcddys and i currently dont have a real nice gun. also i think a 12 playing tournys is great. super 7 that a bit much backing up in national tournys is fine but the make it out like hes good

[Peach]

Hmmm. Wow, people complain about the sports image, then cuss out a 12 year old that could whipe them up and down a field with a spyder or his cocker. As people say, it's the player not the gun, so who cares what gun he has. I doubt anyone wouldn't accept help from parents paying for paintball. I also find it funny that many of these kids call him spoiled yet have a T.V. in their room with an X-box, ps2, and a 1,500 dollar computer. Give the kid a break. Hey, I'm 15 and would play tourney ball in his league without a second thought, but I'm not going to complain that he has a more expensive gun then me(Not that I know for sure if he does or not.) because he is 12 and his parents help pay for it. Face it, paintball is expensive and if he loves it and his parents support him, by all means buy his stuff. He probably does his chores and helps out in payments when he can. Try mowing laws once a week for 5 dollars and playing paintball on that, you can't. Give the kid a break and get over yourself if you have a problem with him.

-- Rock on little guy.

[bornl33t]

really theres more to it then being spoiled. with age comes wisdom. I HATE kids that act like they are something special cause they have the smae toys grown ups have. Make house payments, truck payments, suport a family, work 40 hours a week,... then i'll be impressed by your 2k$ setup and that nice acura you drive.

Some ppl earn the right to be grow up, others try and buy into it.

[sbpyro]

Bad thing to be a spoiled kid. YES
Since I do not know the kid I can't make a judgement on this case. Being spoiled is more of an attitude than it is about getting stuff. I know of ppl who grew up in a better life than I did and wouldn't consider them spoiled. But knew of kids that grew up in the projects that were spoiled even though their families were on welfare.
Now is this kid being called a wigger because of the way he wears his hat or his attitude. Cuz the way I see it most wiggers that I know of think they live the ghetto life.
I have no problems with a kid with a brand new gun that cost more than all my paintball equipment combined, I have a problem with a kid that didn't learn the game.
My $.02 - 30% for rent in the projects.

[beefstew]

I also started playing tournaments when i was 12. The issue is that he does nothing for his gear. Eclass and his own field, just handed to him. This might make him appreciate his parents but more than likely he doesnt understand that most people pay their own way. I spent almost all of my savings for paint at IAO. And he doesnt seem to be very good, which is my main quam, if you suck, there is no reason to be in an article, i dont care how old you are.

Phil
(only 15 now)

[Thordic]

If he is really serious about the sport, which he obviously is (since he is playing super 7), then not at all.

Do people call kids who play hockey spoiled because their parents bought them several hundred dollars worth of pads and equipment?

What about a very musical kid whose parents buy him a $1600 Yamaha keyboard?

There is nothing wrong with encouraging your kids to play sports. Paintball is somewhat more expensive than other sports, but the kid is out playing, at least hes not sitting at home being pasty and watching TV all day.

I think people are just jealous.

Some kid who hardly plays and doesn't have a clue but owns a $2000 angel setup is spoiled. All he needs is a Tippman and a Co2 tank, but a kid who is serious about the sport, no, thats cool with me.

[FutureMagOwner]

Originally posted by Thordic
at least hes not sitting at home being pasty and watching TV all day.

hey i resent that!!!!!



anyway as i mentioned earlier in a slightly more simplistic form it comes down to attitude to me and it doesnt matter otherwise who bought this and who use it etc

[greyninja009]

I dont think it matters what gun he starts with; if he's worthy of his gear, I'm fine with it. I've met alot of cocks that aren't spoiled, they're just cocks, I've met some spoiled kids that aren't cocks, not al spoiled kids are cocks, my friend just got an orracle with 68/5000, payin barely enough of it to buy a couple tootsie pops, but last time i played, he did good, we just showed him how and he did the rest. He's worthy of his gear, and he's spoiled, nothing wrong with that.

[Evil Bob]

Everyone needs to keep in mind that top end gear allows you to play at your highest physical skill level, it removes artificial limitations that may be hardware limitations (slow cycle rates, failures, etc.) and puts those limitations on the player themselves.

You want someone to grow in the sport skillwise as quickly as possible, you provide them the best hardware money can buy, same thing goes with any sport people may compete in where the equipment used can and will impose artificial limitations on the participants performance.

I'll use myself and my son here as a further example:

I'm 6'3" and have no problems with the heavy warped Emag I haul around (almost 13 pounds with paint).
My 14 year old son is 4'11" and would suffer greatly with that kind of weight for more then one game, therefore I spent some hard earned cash and invested in a C&C Xmag for him. A marker mounted air setup was too heavy for him to wield comfortably, so we setup a remote line to his harness, his total marker weight (no warp) when loaded with paint is 4 pounds, something he can easily haul around and use all day long. As he grows, we will add onto his setup (warp, move air to on-marker, etc.), but for right now, he has the ideal setup for his size, strength, and endurance that allows him to play at his highest level skill wise.

Is he spoiled? I'll let you be the judge:

He has a local paper route and a weekly allowance he earns for doing chores around the house. I make him buy things he "wants" with his own money that he earns, my wife and myself provide him with the basic necessities of life (food, clothing, shelter, etc). We have a board on the wall in the kitchen showing chores and current outstanding totals (in his case), his total is currently at $-542.00, that's the remaining balance on his xmag, he expects to have it paid off completely by sept, nov at the latest. He volunteers to do chores for his brothers and earn the allowance money they would have if they had performed the chores, ho goes around the neighborhood and mows lawns and does odd jobs on weekends when we're not playing.

Normally we will only let the kids buy what they can afford with money they have already earned, but in the case of the xmag, my wife and I made an exception as it came up for sale unexpectedly and we jumped on the opportunitely to get one without waiting 6 months on the list. We also saw it as a good opportunity to teach our son about credit responcibility and made the exception to our normal rules and allowed him to go into the hole on paying it off.

-Evil Bob

[Albinonewt]

EvilBob:

That is exactly the right way to do it.

good for you, your kid is learning several valueable lessons!

[FutureMagOwner]

Originally posted by Evil Bob
Normally we will only let the kids buy what they can afford with money they have already earned, but in the case of the xmag, my wife and I made an exception as it came up for sale unexpectedly and we jumped on the opportunitely to get one without waiting 6 months on the list. We also saw it as a good opportunity to teach our son about credit responcibility and made the exception to our normal rules and allowed him to go into the hole on paying it off.

think of it as teaching him how banking and loans work

[speedyejl]

Well I was able to watch Demented Kidz play at the Super 7 @ NJ, and I have to say that Logan is really talented.

Some pics I took of him in action from the Grandstands.

[DWill]

Hmmmm... I'm spoiled but not spoiled. My mag which I got 3 years ago was saved up penny by penny doing chores and odd jobs around the block. My mom threw in an extra $100 for the tank because I wanted to start with CA and not deal with the problems c02 caused in mags. But that $100 dollars canceled out my future birthday present and she made me clean the basement and the garage (the dirtiest, dustiest and most untidy place you could imagine). The basement and the garage took 12 hours each to finish.
In that case I believe I had to work hard for my mag, but 5 days ago my mom and dad recently bought me a new flute (because my old one was very, very old and had been broken multiple times because of its age) which cost $822. Let me say that I am very grateful that my parents did this and now gives me a chance to excel in music. They even offered to buy the gold plated one but I turned it down .
But there are some who are spoiled. First let me start with my cousin who is from Flordia and lives with my aunt who is having money problems. I have seen him more than once cuss and complain and whine to his mom because he doesn't get what he wants, and he has more than my brother and me combined. He had a total of 5 paintball guns, all broken, a Moped(sp) now broken, 8 basketball shoes etc... and didn't pay a penny for them. Another case is a local boy whose parents recently bought him a viper(yes the car viper made by dodge) This is his first car and he is racing down streets flicking people off and basicallly being an arse. These are examples of people not appreciating what their parents do for them and what other people had to do for their stuff and in my opinion it is mostly the parents fault for giving them all the stuff and not knowing when to draw the line. Just my .02 cents