Ever wonder if your teenager should get a job? Wonder no more! The answer is a very definite yes!
Having worked as a teen, seeing my kids work as teens, and now seeing many of my teen patients and my grand kids work I know for sure that work is good for them!
Work teaches them responsibility, team work, and best of all, it’s good for their self-esteem! They learn to get themselves out of bed in time to get to work on time. (We parents can thwart that result by making it our responsibility to get them up, but self-esteem is never established that way.)
A good boss will teach them good “people skills” like getting along with others, even people they don’t like.
Furthermore, work leads to money, and kids, can learn to save for something they want or need. Having their own money will them know the joy of giving and the feeling of independence that a little cash in one’s pocket provides.
There is no better way for one to learn at a young age to be proud of himself and what he does. Did you ever notice how a teens place of employment becomes “his” restaurant, “his” store, or “his” swimming pool?
Work does so much for today’s kids I wonder if they shouldn’t have to pay just for the opportunity and privilege of working!
Heck, that doesn’t seem fair or any fun, and I don’t think they would learn as much that way, so let’s keep on paying teens for the work they do and enjoy seeing them grow!