Building Teen Character: Part-Time Employment

The teenage years are a crucial time in a child's life. They arenot children anymore, but they are also not adults. During thistime the choices they make may have an effect on them for therest of their lives. It is the parents' responsibility to guidetheir teenagers in the right direction by helping them makeresponsible choices and building their character to the pointthat when their teenagers move out of the house they are on theroad to being responsible adults and have the tools they need tosucceed in life.

There are a number of ways that parents can help teenagers buildtheir character. One way is through part-time employment. Having a job provides many learning opportunities for teens.

* It teaches them what it takes to make a living, and that it ishard work to earn money to pay bills.

* They have the opportunity to learn to manage their own moneyand make choices of how they will spend it.

* If parents gives their teens the responsibility of paying forsome of their own bills (e.g., car insurance, gas, clothing, cellphone, lunches out, etc.), then teens will realize they will onlybe able to have these things if they pay for them and will haveto decide if it is worth it to them or not. Their prioritiessuddenly change when it is their money they are spending. Theydon't necessarily have to pay all their own bills, giving them acouple of expenses to take care of will teach them to pay theirown way and make responsible choices with their money.

* Working is one way for teens to learn to get along with andwork along side other people, a very crucial step in characterdevelopment. How many adults do you know that can't get alongwith other people! Teens learn that you won't always likeeveryone you work with, but that it doesn't matter. You still doyour job and have a good attitude about it, treating others asyou wish to be treated.

* The process of looking for a job requires teenagers to take agood look at themselves and their abilities, helping them to seewhat kind of people they want to be and what they ultimately wantto do with their lives.

* Job experience is the first step to building a successfulresume. Any jobs a teen has will look good on collegeapplications and be a stepping stone to future employment.

Of course, all this sounds great but in reality can be difficultto put into practice. The first job our daughter had she gotlaid off from because she and her boss could not come toagreement on the hours she would work. After she started workingthere he changed the hours he said she could work and itconflicted with other activities she had. It was very hard forher to feel like she was "fired" from her first job. We had totalk through a lot of the feelings she had towards her boss andsome of the experiences she had at that job. But because shechose to honor her boss by showing him respect when he didn'tnecessarily deserve it, he gave her an excellent reference forher next job.

A couple of months later she did find another job that was muchbetter than the first one, and she had many great learningexperiences of working with others and learning to serve otherseven when it was very hard work.

Parents can't just throw their teens out into the workplace andexpect everything will go great. Issues will arise that need tobe worked through with the parents' help, but this is where thelearning occurs, and character development begins!

Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom of four. For moreinspirational articles and tips for everyday living, visit herweb sites at http://www.creativehomemaking.com andhttp://www.christian-parent.com