Being a mom of an adult child, I've heard many parents and grandparents say, “Teenagers, today, don't have work ethic. Not like when we were kids."
I don't believe that's the teenagers fault. I think the government interference, regulations, mandating the age when teens are old enough to work is the problem.
When I was a child, I started picking Raspberries at a local farm at the age of 11, not because my parents made me, but because I wanted money. It was a great experience in that I learned: how to show up for work; that work was hot and sweaty; that the harder I worked the more money I made, and that I didn’t like it very much. . I continued working in fields (bulbs, spinach) and got a newspaper route until I was 14.
When I was 14, I got my 1st job in a restaurant - Pizza Pete in Mt Vernon. Between the ages of 14 & 16, I worked for a cleaning company, Burger King, jobsite clean-up, and numerous other places. The point being, I started working and testing out what kind of jobs I liked and didn't like - long before I'd had to support myself. Ages 14 to 16 are the perfect age to start and quit jobs, “try on” new things, and get your feet wet in the world of making money.
Now-days, kids can't even work until they are 16 - and if they’re heavy in to high school sports, some coaches demand they don't work! (What freak thought of that- it's not like they are all going to go pro!) Some of the best ball players, I grew up with, worked for a couple hours before school started.
At 16, with a couple years in high school, teenagers already have built in defenses. They’ve moved past the lets try it and if we don’t like it we’ll do something else stage. They’ve move on to the age where it’s too late to fail. They only have 2 years to figure it out before they have to support themselves. What a lot of pressure.
I believe it would be much better if they could start working at restaurants, gas stations, and other work when they are 14.
I don’t know who had time to come up with such a law – I, personally, was too busy working.
