The ultimate life hack the government doesn't want you to know

There's a difference between bad credit and no credit. Some places refuse both, but you can find places that will deal with no credit.

Basically, but they call it a thin file (aka no credit history). If you don't have someone to cosign, they'll start you off with a secure card, where you pony up a couple hundred bucks and borrow against yourself until you establish good history.

In my case, it was with the bank I already had a checking account with and the credit limit was like $500. They normally start you off with a super low limit and a high interest rate.

No teenager should be given a credit card under any circumstances. That's a great way to find yourself bankrupt.

Edit: Guys are we talking about credit cards or debit cards? There's a significant difference between the two and there's a lot of people telling me they had credit cards as teenagers, which seems unthinkable to me.