Basic HTML Version
22
January – March 2014
www.deltalivingmagazine.com
By Walter Ruehlig
walter.ruehlig@gmail.com
N
o single factor universally
determines youthful fu-
ture success. Each life plays a dif-
ferent hand; sometimes one par-
ticular card trumps; other times it’s
the total mix. Varying credit goes
to parental modeling, older sibling
example, peer-association, inspired
teachers, mentors, even propitious
timing.
I would submit for consider-
ation, though, an often unheralded
determinant; youth work. It comes
in many packages; paid employ-
ment; apprenticeship, school-based
vocational learning, volunteering,
even chores.
Think of what we get in the
bargain with our first job.The val-
ues of reward, budgeting, saving
and deferred gratification all come
alive.Alarm and time clocks, break
Benefits of
Working Youth
The School of Hard Knocks
also teaches us to deal with all
kinds of co-workers and bosses,
some whom we might even con-
sider jerks. We realize the impor-
tance of co-existence and the
tolerance Frederick Nietzsche ex-
pressed;“That which does not kill,
us makes us stronger.” Multi-task-
ing transcends cliché and we roll
with the punches. Falling short,we
need wear a brave face.Mary Kaye
wisely suggested,“Fake it until you
make it.”
There are other useful intro-
ductions to work besides paid jobs.
Various researches, including a
1995 study by Bailey and Hughes,
endorsed by organizations like
the National Collaboration for
Youth, support the practical value
of school-centered vocational pro-
grams. These include job-shad-
owing, informational interviews,
workplace tours, school-based en-
terprises, apprenticeships and on
the job training. These improve
self-esteem, acculturate workplace
expectations, and increase by 20%,
according to the US Department
of Labor, the likelihood of more
stable life-time employment.
Of course, times aren’t what
they used to be. As a kid, I deliv-
ered newspapers by bike; now it’s
done by car. I mowed lawns; now
it’s done by adults with landscap-
ing businesses. Retail jobs as well
have diminished for youth.
In fact, according to the Anne
Casey Kids Count Foundation,
youth employment is at its low-
est since WW II, with only half
of young adults 16 to 24 holding
jobs or being full time students.
Now, only one in four teens has
ever worked, as compared to 46%
in 2000.
If paid employment, then, or
school opportunity doesn’t cut it,
consider volunteering. Try www.
volunteer4antioch.com for local
opportunities; or go to volun-
teereastbay.org.
Chores, too, teach responsibility.
Our family found a refrigerator list
useful where each of us could see
what the other did and what load
they carried.
Allowances, too, can be in-
structive.We apportioned our son
a monthly total amount that in-
cluded lunch, clothes, gas and en-
tertainment. Besides rationing, so
he wasn’t left short at month’s end,
amazingly, he quickly started look-
ing for sneakers on sale and even
asked if he could make his own
sandwiches. Of course, I charged
him for the bread and cold cuts.
Seems, work can be its own real-
life Economics 101 textbook!
time, calling in sick and appropri-
ate dress all take on adult impor-
tance. Humility becomes more
than a church sermon as we learn
that no task is beneath us and that
the Customer is King. We grow
accustomed, too, to taking orders,
criticism and instruction.
Photos by
Maria Tavares
Stephanie Long, 17, daughter of Jules and Mike Guzzardo of Discovery Bay, interns at The Skin Liaison in Brentwood
for her work experience class. She is a senior at Liberty High School, hoping to become a veterinarian one day.
Robbie Partain, only 10-years-old, has been helping in his parents’ busi-
ness, DEK Electric, for a couple years now. He helps unload the vans,
keeps the shop clean, and one of his favorite past times at work is cutting
down the scrap metal.