by Jamie Elizabeth

Created on: March 28, 2009   Last Updated: April 26, 2010

The responsibility of a job is something that children should be exposed to as early as possible. Simple chores around the house, as young as they are able to handle them, but they should have a real, out of the house job as soon as state law permits.

Age 14, in many states, is the age at which children can legally start working. There is much that can be learned from exposure to different industries (often food service at this age) and from the interaction with bosses, peers, and older co-workers.

In this era of economic uncertainty and financial instability, the skills children will acquire when having to keep track of their own earnings and learn how to save and spend responsibly are invaluable. Learning the value of money has always been an important lesson for children, but now it seems even more essential. When children begin to see the amount of taxes that are taken out of their paychecks and begin to truly appreciate how much work it takes to simply earn enough money for a gallon of gas or the newest clothing they want, it will begin to instill a natural work ethic and understanding in them.

Beginning to work at age 14, or as early as possible, will also set many children apart from their peers in terms of maturity level and the way in which they approach their schoolwork. If children have to keep a work schedule, they will begin to balance their schoolwork and extracurricular activities with that schedule, as well as with their social lives. As a high school student, I never drank, did drugs, or basically got into any trouble- a huge reason for this was that I had to wake up at 4 AM every Saturday and Sunday for my job at the local sandwich shop!

Apart from keeping children out of trouble, having a job and seeing the value of hard work manifest itself in terms of money, it will be easier for children to see the value of hard work in all areas of their lives, including in schoolwork, where the advantages of working as hard as possible and spending long hours slaving over books are not always immediately evident. And, although there is nothing wrong with flipping burgers, if this is the type of job that is someone's first job they will often realize that it is not in fact what they want to do with the rest of their life and takes those threats from mom and dad about "study or spend the rest of your life working at McDonald's!" seriously.

As long as children are able to balance their time, or at least learn to, the benefits of working as soon as they are legally able far outweigh any negatives.

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