[Roxy]

Is it just me getting old, or are our  teenagers getting lazier, and wanting things handing to them on a plate?
 
On Fridays, I clean at a big massive victorian house.  Could really do with the day off to catch up round the farm, but the extra money comes in handy!!  They want for nothing - own company, posh cars, fields with ponies in.  Me to do the cleaning, and a handyman to do the outside work.
 
I have worked there for about 7 years now.  I have watched what those kids, now teenagers actually get - not just for birthdays and xmas, but in general!!  The girl is 16, and has finished school until sixth form starts in September.  She was supposedly looking for a job.....but sitting in front of daytime telly seems preferable.
 
I got details of jobs in our local tourist town, all in one place - waiting on staff in the cafe/restaurant, information office, gift shop etc.  All she had to do was turn up for the open evening where you could do an informal interview.  Ideal I thought, decent pay, nice setting, just for the summer.  Did she go?  NO!! 
 
I told her when I was two years younger than her, I had a morning paper round, worked in a horse stables cleaning out 7 stables etc.  morning and night 6 days a week.  My total weekly pay for both jobs was £2.  I also had my own horses and goats to see to, and the money earned was used  to buy feed for them.  The pay for the job I found her, was a heck of a lot more!!  She wants a car, and no doubt her parents will buy it and run it.  Most weekends she is taken shopping, and clothes galore bought for her. 
 
I am not sure her and her brother appreciate  what they have, they just seem to take it for granted.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

[SteveHants]

Well, if you've never wanted for anything, how are you supposed to motivate yourself to work? Blame the parents.

[Castle Farm]

I got my first paper round at 3 years old and had to deliver to 41 houses all on a big hill.

After I finished the round I had to run home and lick our front step clean with me tongue, as we couldn't afford a cloth and scrubbing brush.

All 9 of us kids used to sleep in a Kelloggs Cornflakes box in the outhouse and we had stale bread and dripping 6 days a week and if we got lucky a road kill hedgehog for sunday dinner.

Were we happy.

What do you think.

[deepinthewoods]

cor, you had an outhouse

[Rosemary]

I have the niece of a friend of Dan's mum here - she's 15, just left school and is going to college in September to do horticulture / animal care. She does a few days here a week for pocket money and volunteers at the local cat shelter.

She's a great girl - chatty, very focussed, works hard, loves the animals.

My nephew, who's 17 and just left school too, has a job in Little Chef unil he goes to Uni; my other nephew is a keen cyclist and trains really hard.

They're OK, really. Decent young people - I don't despair.

[Mammyshaz]

After watching my nephew and two nieces totally spoilt I didn't want my boys thinking they could sit back while we both worked to keep them in designer ware and top gaming consoles etc.

They do get spoilt at Christmas and birthdays but the rest of the time if they want a new game or new gadget they can do little jobs to earn it. My 4 yr old does not need much so likes to be given money to pop in his box
When he does little things like help polish or hoover.
My 10yr old however has great plans for different things new xbox games etc. He mows the lawns, washes the cars etc. But I've learned the hard way to negotiate the fee BEFORE the task is done otherwise I am charged a fortune 

It's early days so there's still time for things to go wrong with his enthusiasm but we are off to a good start.
After he mowed several lawns around my parents street and cleared gardens of weeds For neighbours
 he came home with a full wallet and grinning like a Cheshire cat.     

my sister calls it child labour  I call it teaching independence.

[P6te]

I got my first paper round at 3 years old and had to deliver to 41 houses all on a big hill.

After I finished the round I had to run home and lick our front step clean with me tongue, as we couldn't afford a cloth and scrubbing brush.

All 9 of us kids used to sleep in a Kelloggs Cornflakes box in the outhouse and we had stale bread and dripping 6 days a week and if we got lucky a road kill hedgehog for sunday dinner.

Were we happy.

What do you think.

I haven't laughed so much for ages!! 10/10!! 

[Fowlman]

I got my first paper round at 3 years old and had to deliver to 41 houses all on a big hill.

After I finished the round I had to run home and lick our front step clean with me tongue, as we couldn't afford a cloth and scrubbing brush.

All 9 of us kids used to sleep in a Kelloggs Cornflakes box in the outhouse and we had stale bread and dripping 6 days a week and if we got lucky a road kill hedgehog for sunday dinner.

Were we happy.

What do you think.

I haven't laughed so much for ages!! 10/10!! 

Ye that made me chuckle too. Flash git though i had to sleep in a broody box with a grouchy bantam.

[jaykay]

Groan 

Watching the teenagers at school, the nicest, most balanced ones are the ones who are expected to pitch in and help at home. Some do specific things for specific money, others get pocket money but are expected to generally help out and take responsibility for certain jobs at home. They tell me quite happily 'I do the ironing at our house' or 'it's my job to feed and walk the dogs'. Apart from anything else, I think it gives them a sense that they matter to the successful operation of their family. I don't suppose for a minute they never grumble about doing it but generally they seem happy.

The ones that are awful are the ones who are spoiled and don't expect to work, either at home or in the classroom. They're bored and have a bad attitude that their parents support. Just exactly how do these parents think they're helping their kids?

[plumseverywhere]

I'm glad you've said that, Jaykay. Mine earn any pocket money by helping with big jobs but small, daily tasks are on a rota and they are expected to muck in. I've been laughed at but really don't care! The 10 year old right down to the 5 year old know they have to be part of the family 'team' or else chaos could break out in a family this size 


I have seen kids locally who've lost the brand new i-phone they were given for xmas have it replaced by Mummy and Daddy, no questions asked - what value does that place on money and how it is earned?!

[Rosemary]

Apart from anything else, I think it gives them a sense that they matter to the successful operation of their family.

I think that is the most telling sentance in all of this. Great observation.

[SteveHants]

Lets face it, farming children are unlikley to escape 'family labour' anyway. 

[plumseverywhere]

Lets face it, farming children are unlikley to escape 'family labour' anyway. 

This is true. Very few children will have gone to school last Wednesday having washed a wormy/scouring goat kids bum first really, will they? Poor Milli - don't think she's forgiven me that one yet 

[Fleecewife]

I think folk have been complaining about how lazy young people are since Stone Age times      My eldest grandson is now most ashamed of how he behaved as a young teenager, but that's just the way humans are.  Most grow out of their laziness, and those that don't, well - it's not their youth which is the problem, but their nature altogether.   I don't think farm children are any different to any other children anywhere - you can help around the place and still be morose and unwilling, or you can be cheerful and helpful.
 
I feel sorry for the teenagers where you work Roxy because they are clearly bored and lacking in self-esteem.  What a shame their parents don't seem to have the time to show them how important they are.

[jaykay]

Well that's true Fleeceswife  We have a quote on the staffroom wall about the 'youth of today' not respecting their elders etc etc and it's written by Pliny the Elder 

The 10 year old right down to the 5 year old know they have to be part of the family 'team' or else chaos could break out in a family this size

Which is why big families often work very well. Every one pitches in and matters as a result, everyone has a 'mate' they can confide in, nothing can be too precious.

I was one of four and wouldn't have swapped it for the world. Apart from anything else, your parents can't keep too close an eye on you once a teenager, with three others to attend to as well