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Want Successful Teens? Have Them Do Chores

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Want Successful Teens? Have Them Do Chores Nothing On Hand-BusyKid

It’s no surprise kids who do chores often succeed later in life. Like encouraging your kids to eat their vegetables, chores are packed with good things growing children need to turn into successful adults.

In fact, a recent survey from online polling company Pollfish discovered moms and dads who had kids regularly complete chores found them to perform better in school as well as be more responsible, accountable, dependable, disciplined and creative.

So, if kids benefit from chores, why aren’t we all incorporating it into our parenting routine?

I think we can agree that all parents want their kids to grow up to be strong, successful adults who are respected members of society.

However, what helped a parent succeed in life may not get trickled down to their kids. Case in point: a recent survey from BusyKid found that while 90% of parents said they benefited from chores growing up, only 55% have their kids doing chores.

The truth is, not everyone likes eating vegetables no matter how good they can be for you – and the same holds true with chores.

I suggest parents pay their children to complete tasks around the house. It’s so much more important than just kids working and parents paying. It’s about families working together to prepare children to face the financial realities ahead of them.

Remember, the idea is to raise your kids and have them move out on their own. If they come back as adults, something has gone wrong.

So, how can chores help your teens?

Get Active

Recent research has found that the average teen is no more active than the average 60-year-old. Physical activity levels among teens are so low that more than half of all teens fail to reach the recommended 60 minutes of activity each day.

Though your kids may want to come home after school to play video games, watch TV or jump on social media, giving them a few chores to fill in the time will get them moving and help keep the house organized.

Develop a Work Ethic

If you ever get the chance to talk to a manager of a fast-food restaurant, movie theater or any other place where teens work, it becomes evident that the majority of teens aren’t ready to be working. For the most part, you hear them described as irresponsible, immature, self-centered and attached to phones. In other words, lacking a solid work ethic.

Doing chores can help develop all the good traits any employer would want from an employee. To top it off, if you pay your child an allowance, he or she can learn how to manage the earnings way before getting a paycheck for the first time.

Financial Smarts

There is nothing more important for your child to learn between the ages of 12-18 then managing finances. While some parents don’t want their children focused on money from such an early age, the truth is that the U.S. ranks far behind globally when it comes to financial literacy, and part of the reason is that our kids are introduced so late or to this process.

Stop thinking of allowance the old-fashioned way and start looking at it as part of their education. Kids need hands-on experience when it comes to earning and managing money, and if they don’t get it from you, they won’t get it.

Meet Expectations

Each of us must live up to expectations set by our family, work, school or community. Chores provide parents the perfect opportunity to establish some clear accountability measures for a teen to meet. Providing clear direction to your child, including the how and when a project should be completed, can help your son or daughter understand expectations and why just merely finishing a task is not enough.

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