"When I grow up I wanna be a skydiver!" Go buy latest skydiving equipment. The works. Cue in skydiver rage. "You are an insult to skydivers!"
See how ridiculous that sounds?
To borrow loosely from World of Warcraft, less QQ, more pewpew.
So they bought a DSLR, funded by their parents. Why does that bother you so much? Everyone gets into photography for different reasons. For some, it's a way of life. For others, it's a hobby. For others still, they just have to have the latest gears. You as a photographer are defined by the pictures you take, your thought process when you take pictures, etc. You are not defined by the gears you own, or how you got them. They are merely a means to an end. So why are you getting annoyed by people getting the same tools?
I work in IT, with photography as a hobby. I don't think I'll be able to share the same amount of passion as several other people here, I'll be the first to admit that. Does that make me any less "worthy" of picking up a DSLR? I don't think so. If a person decides to buy a computer and proudly declare "I'm gonna be a programmer!" would I feel insulted? Hell no. It's his decision. Whether he follows through or not is of no concern to me. If he turns out to be a "bad apple" does he give me - as a programmer - a bad name? I don't think so. I will let my skills do the talking for me. In the end, it is he who has lost something, not me.