I recently read a book that I highly recommend called Parent on Purpose by Amy Carney. Amy was a speaker at a parenting conference at our church a few months ago. Her book is a great guide on how we can better raise our children in such a complicated world of screens, gentle parenting, bullying, and everything else that is thrown at our children every day. It is a great book to refresh our minds of some of the old school values that have been forgotten about when raising children, and how we really need to focus on preparing our young children for the next stages in life so that they can be successful and independent.
One chapter that really stood out to me was the work ethic on this generation of young adults, and teens…. Or the lack thereof. Anyone would be blind to not notice all the companies that are constantly looking to hire, unable to hire people who are fit to do the job at hand, or hire employees that actually show up to work and complete the necessary tasks. This new generation talks back to their bosses, decides when they want to work or not, and calls in for multiple days at a time. I think it’s even more shocking that so many people get away with this. BUT employers cannot replace some of these people from the lack of people wanting to work. My husband is seeing this problem a lot with his job in the last couple of years. He has people call in with jet lag from a flight from California to Arizona, calling in sick every Monday from a “busy” weekend, and just a lack of effort to get any task done, and done right.
It makes you wonder why these kids are like this now. Is it parenting? Schools not preparing kids for the “real world”? or just a sense of entitlement that people feel they have these days? In the book, Parent on Purpose, Amy stated an interesting fact: The two Dunkin Donut locations that are the hardest locations to hire staff are the two in North Scottsdale, Arizona because of the area’s affluence. That’s our home! Teens are not choosing to work simply because they don’t have to, and parents are not forcing them to.
Creating a work ethic in our children begins at home!
What can we do as parents to prepare our children for the real world? How can we prepare them to be hard workers, show up every day and make a living? I have a few tips that I learned from this book, Parent on Purpose.
- Expect your kid to work.
If they want to drive, have them pay for their gas, insurance or maybe car payment. How does that look? By working for it. Clothes, nights out, food at restaurants, all that can be done by working to pay for it on their own.
- Teach kids how to manage money.
Open a bank account with your children. Show them how to balance a checkbook, pay bills online, how to communicate to a bank teller when going into an actual bank. Teach them how to use an atm, read credit card statements, etc.
- Start with chores around the house.
Start them young. Teach them that doing small chores around the house can help them earn things they may want. Give them an allowance. Teach them how to save money for something they may really want at a store. Take them and let them pick out the toy and pay for it themselves with the money they earned.
- Teach them ways to create jobs to earn money
Lemonade stands, art projects to sell, babysitting, pet sitting, even house sitting. My nephew has created business cards that he hands out in the summer to do yard work for people. He shovels snow in the winter for an income.
- Teach mindful spending habits.
Check local thrift stores before spending a full amount on things they want. Can you recycle bottles for money? Take donations to a resale store to show how you can give things to others and earn money by doing.
I know times have changed with the demands of youth sports and other extracurricular activities for our children. Throwing homework and personal life in the mix is tough for children to balance. This is where we as parents need to teach a work/life balance. It’s easy to say that our children are overworked and have no time to work but, it is only hurting the children and destroying the eagerness for work ethic and their future. Many jobs will work with young kids and their busy schedules, even if it’s just one day a week. MAKE THEM DO IT. I Promise it will pay off in the long run.
Find Amy’s website here: https://amycarney.com/
Find Amy’s book here: https://amycarney.com/shop/
