Reply to Why Affluent Parents Put So Much Pressure on Their Kids

Forum Index » Tweens and Teens

Reply to "Why Affluent Parents Put So Much Pressure on Their Kids"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Parents can push all they want for Ivy. Its a scam. Both DH and I are entrepreneurs and that is a mindset that wins every time. It can even win without a degree.

My son is the ONLY child mowing lawns. He is 15 and next spring his first car will be a pickup to trailer his equipment. He has 1 kid he pays on his busiest days to help. Next spring he will drive his own truck. He has had to knock on doors, convince people to spend their money with a neighborhood kid, and deliver a consistent product. He has 14 regular customers for mowing at 40/wk each and then has been busy with leaves and mulching this fall. We're teaching him that the way to freedom and success in this country is to rely on yourself and not be an office drone.[/quote]

I agree. We demand our kids work just like we did at a young age. It teaches them a work ethic that will carry them a long way.  The kids who have a life spoon fed to them do not do well in the real world.

[/quote]

Interesting discussion.  I am Asian and we don't expect teenagers to have part time jobs.  Asian parents want their kids to focus on their grades and academics which we consider their "job".  [/quote]

I am white but with the Asian parents here. Maybe if my kids would overindulge and get cocky and know it all about life I would push a manual labor experience but that's about it. [/quote]
Did you read the post about how all things being equal, an employer would rather hire someone who has  *some* kind of work experience (be it manual, fast food services, or white collar) than over someone who has no work experience?  You might be doing your child a disservice.  Also, colleges see a lot of applicants with stellar education credentials.  What will set your child apart from the rest of the pack?  If I saw a kid that had not the best test scores/grades, but had a side business mowing lawns, I'd pick him over a student with excellent grades and nothing else.  Why?  Because the other student shows leadership and entrepreneural skills in the real world, and chances are, this is the kind of person that will start a company, create jobs, and become a leader in the real world.[/quote]

Depends on what kind of work experience. [b]To get my kid an elite job I'll be pulling connections[/b] for him to intern at a friends office in some capacity or another during his summer. Not mowing lawns. If he starts his own business it will be something to do in the tech start up realm. Other than that his job is school. You have to play it smart. Frankly [b]Goldman Sachs ain't looking for waiteressing experience. [/b][/quote]

Right. Goldman Sachs is looking for connections. So by pulling connections, you're showing GS that your son is well-connected. That's a lot different than skilled. For those of us who aren't connected, it's a whole different ballgame. [/quote]

Except it's not. This kid isn't learning to work for what he gets. He's learning that Mommy and Daddy and the folks at the club will get him in.  He didn't earn anything. It was handed to him. Kids who are handed stuff don't appreciate what they have and they feel like they don't deserve it. Because they don't... They are often remarkably fragile people, like the kids in the Atlantic article. [/quote]

What bs. We are talking about teenagers here. So somehow if parents push their kids to do lawn care is better than if I got my kid an internship? Of course it will be up to the kids personality whether he or she learns or not. If the child learns in his or her first internship as a teenager he or she will have a huge legs up once they are in college and are actually applying for internships that leads to a job. You have no idea how many companies I recruited for in college valued my experience working as a teenager...or a college freshman. I had to source those opportunities myself but if I can get a legs up for an ambitious kid I will. It's not a given that kids that get more Internships as a teen are spoilt, you have to teach them how to value each learning experience.

So as I said it depends on what kind of work. While some kids were doing lawn care I was working at a think tank organizing conferences for senior world government officials. That experience was heavily influential for me getting into an ivy. I will tell my child to look for similar smart opportunities. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics