An 8-year-old boy in Jerusalem racked up $4,600 in charges on his parents iPhone from Apple's App store. Surprisingly, this isn't the first time he's racked up a hefty bill.
He previously downloaded purchases for his game totaling $540.
Apparently, the child didn't understand he was running up real charges. He was playing a game and wasn't able to distinguish between real money and simply collecting coins for the game. It's understandable how it could have been confusing to the little guy.
There wasn't any confusion once his parents received the bill, however. They figured out what happened and pleaded their case to Apple. They were successful in getting the bill written off. Although Apple said all sales are usually final, they were willing to make an exception.
I'm sure this isn't an isolated incident. In fact, I'm willing to bet there are a lot of 8 year olds who have done very similar things.
The thing about 8 year olds is that they really want to be like the "big kids." They often want the same privileges and want to use technology, just like teens or adults. However, they lack a lot of basic skills necessary to handle the added responsibility.
Learn more about how to effectively discipline an 8-year-old and avoid problems, like receiving a bill for thousands of dollars in downloaded apps.