Overindulging children instead of teaching them the value of earning what they receive is a big problem. It creates an unrealistic perception of life. Eventually our children will be adults—they will have to take care of themselves as well as their future families. If they don’t learn the meaning of earning through practical and real experience as children, adulthood will hit them like a slap in the face.
Our task is to teach our children the link between the desire to have privileges and possessions by learning the value of work ethic.
The Relationship between a Worth Ethic and Future Success
Psychotherapist and author on child development, Dr. Eileen Gallo, reports on an eye-opening Harvard study about just how critical work ethic is in a child’s life. She writes:
… the single biggest predictor of adult mental health was “the capacity to work learned in childhood”—in other words, the development of a work ethic. Men who Valliant described as “competent and industrious at age 14″—men who had developed a work ethic during the Industry Stage of development—were twice as likely to have warm relationships (both family and friendships), five times more likely to have well-paying jobs and 16 times less likely to have suffered significant unemployment.
Christine Conners, in an article for Family Housekeeping, reports that
“Sociologists Scott Coltrane and Michele Adams found that school-aged children who do chores with their fathers get along better with peers and have more friends. They also found that they are less likely to disobey teachers, cause trouble at school and are happier and more outgoing.”
In other words, there is a direct, positively correlative relationship between combating an attitude of entitlement in your child’s youth and his or her success later in life.
How to Make the Work Ethic Real to Your Kids
Dealing with attitudes of entitlement is easy. Identify privileges and material goods your child values, and link them to some sort of quantifiable task. You can start the next time your child asks for something.
Related Resource: 6 Volunteer Opportunities for Your Teen
Used with permission from the book, 30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family by Rebecca Hagelin. Visit http://www.howtosaveyourfamily.com/ to buy Hagelin’s book or to sign up for her free weekly e-newsletter.
