Читать книгу You Don't Know Anything...! - Nadir Psy.D. Baksh PhD - Страница 17

Your teenagers want nothing to do with your responsibilities, nor should they. Their job is to attend school, get good grades, socialize, and eventually learn enough to matriculate into society. This is not to say they shouldn’t have chores, but by “chores” we mean light housework, such as cleaning their bedrooms, and responsibilities which may include mowing the lawn or taking out the garbage. A chore is of the nature of lending a hand, with some degree of accountability, some degree of prioritizing, and some degree of accomplishment upon completion. In our opinion, unless you and your teens have worked out some type of work arrangement where you are paying them a salary to do a job for which they have interviewed, you are exploiting them.

We are adamant about our position on exploitation. Your son or daughter needs to have time for those things that are important in defining their adolescence; housework is not one of those things. If you need a little help with sweeping the floor, they should be asked to pitch in, but to assign them your jobs, just because you can, is both unfair and an abuse of power. Your teenagers have their own set of responsibilities. They must attend school, study for exams, write research papers, be prepared for pop quizzes, make friends, find a date, socialize, join organizations, excel in sports, have a talent, play the piano or the tuba, come home, do homework, make a snack and sometimes dinner, organize their clothing, worry about being included in parties, outings, movies, and overnights, make money, lose privileges, gain them back…and see to a multitude of other developmental “tasks.”