I was recently asked what I think about children having jobs. Well I’m all for it! Jobs around the house and even a job outside the home. Jobs teach children responsibility, work ethic, honesty, honor, and pride.

Of course, if the work is done by the parent or the parent is too involved in pushing the child to do things, the opposite can happen…the child may not learn to be a good worker, they may learn to be a great slacker

I have two examples:

Amanda is 15 years old and since she was 10 years old she received an allowance from her parents to do housework. Her parents had to continually remind her of her jobs, write lists of things for her to do and, in most cases, complete her chores. Guess what. She still received the assignment from her. I’m not sure if this is right or wrong, but looking from the outside, I can imagine that Amanda is learning that she doesn’t have to do much (or anything) to earn money.

Jason is 17 years old and has been working at a fast food restaurant for the past year. His mother takes him and picks him up and keeps his hours written on a list on the fridge so ‘she’ remembers when he works. She only started doing this after Jason’s manager called when he hadn’t shown up for work; his mother had not remembered and, therefore, he did not go to work. Again, I don’t know if this is right or wrong, but again, looking from the outside in, I can imagine that Jason is learning that he doesn’t have to be responsible for his own schedule. Who knows how he’s really doing at the AT job!

I have a personal bias here. I started doing housework when I was very young and was paid accordingly. And I started working outside the home when I was 14 years old. McDonald’s Mac shack was my first job and I worked there for 5 years. It was a great learning ground for all the things I’ve mentioned, and most likely some I haven’t mentioned.

In short, I vote YES for kids having jobs and a big NO for parents getting too involved or letting kids take shortcuts. I’m curious, what was your first job?