This is the SECOND article in a three-part series. The first article can be found on our website by clicking here.
2. START WITH WORK
Setting the right expectations is paramount, but it’s not the only tool in your arsenal. You also have something as old as the Garden of Eden at your fingertips: Work.
Don’t let your kids try to tell you that working and studying are mutually exclusive. In Georgetown University’s study Learning While Earning, they found that about 40% of undergraduate and 76% of graduate students work at least 30 hours a week. Of those who work, 25% do so full-time while also studying full-time. Back when I was studying at CSU San Marcos I worked 30-40 hours a week and even took 18 credits one semester. Granted, I didn’t have a very exciting social life, but I never had any debt either.
WORK HAS MANY BENEFITS
Work benefits students far beyond just helping pay the bills. A strong work ethic will help your student do better in school (and not have to pay to repeat courses!). The Georgetown study also found that working students are upwardly mobile and more likely to move into managerial positions after graduating. Some jobs even provide educational benefits or scholarship opportunities. As a teenager, I earned a scholarship through my union while working at a grocery store.
WORK IS A LIFE SKILL
Work ethic is best taught at a young age, and you will do your children a favor if you make them work. You don’t want them to enter the workforce having never worked a day in their lives.
I saw a great example of this firsthand when I had a co-worker in his very first job- as a lawyer. He came from a well-off family and was never required to work. Instead, he was involved in sports and made it through high school, college, and law school before ever having a real job at the ripe old age of 26.
It was terrible. He didn’t know how to work at all. He was a nice guy, but he was a burden on his co-workers and it affected his relationships with them and his career. His parents cheated him out of the opportunity to learn to work when he was young and the poor guy will live with the consequences for the rest of his life. Please, don’t do the same to your kids.
This is the second article in a three-part series. All articles in the series can be found on our website as of their release date.
Article by Amy Monday – The Pastor’s Wallet
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
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