Some of those "kids" you mentioned are in their 20s, 30s and even 40s. They live off their parents because they missed the concept of working for what they need. They have no pride in accomplishment because they literally have no accomplishment. Some have been coddled and never had to own up to bad behaviors. Some simply have parents who can't let go and never expect any return on their emotional or financial investment. Now, the parents complain because they can't get Jr. to move out, move on, clean up, help out or pay up. Dear Abby knows all about these scenarios.

Blame the Baby Boomers and their obsession with their children.

My daughter is a senior in high school, preparing to graduate this May. She has a 4.88 GPA with many honors & AP classes. She participated in sports all 4 years, is a member of the NHS and has been offered major scholarships to 2 universities. She has never held a PT job because we wanted her to be able to fully participate in high school and all the extra curricular activities. It's clear that she knows how to work hard. After HS graduation, she'll be looking for that PT job because the scholarships don't cover everything. Does she know how to work hard? Absolutely or she wouldn't be ranked #9 out of 665 seniors. And more- she didn't miss out on any opportunities or experiences in high school because she had to work. She'll work for the rest of her life, high school is her last opportunity to be just a student and a kid!

As longs as teenagers have summers, most of them have ample opportunity to work.
Having a part-time job teaches skills that school doesn't.
As a teacher, I see way too many kids with expensive cars, clothes, and cell phones...all paid for by their parents.
Smart parents make sure their kids have the basics, but don't have the luxuries. If the kids want the luxuries, they should work for them themselves.

Mom 11 a.m.,

You've kind of missed the point of the article. You've half addressed the part about her not working and missed the part about teens not wanting to go to college. Regarding not working a part-time job, your daughter made classes and extracurricular activities her job and by so doing earned scholarships to pay for her college education; that is great. And then of course, she is going to college and will probably be very successful there, so this article doesn't really apply to her.

The problem is the kids who just hang out during high school and don't attend college (or are woefully unprepared for it and immediately drop out). They return home and expect Mom and Dad to keep paying for all their wants and needs.

If both parents are working just to be able to support all their kids' unnecessary expenses, they contribute to two problems, spoiled kids who get everything without working for it and not having their parents around (latchkey kids). Sorry, the both parents working part is a little off-topic, but relevant as even just a piece of the conversation.

Kids have embraced the thug culture which laughs at people who go to college or work for a living. No suprise they live out the worthless self indulgent lifestyle manifested by their media....listen to current RAP and R&B lyrics, it's a reflection of reality. No amount of parental advice and encouragment seems to penetrate the social grip of the street rat mentality.

All I can share as an on and off college student is my issue of attaining a degree in my field. But that problem is due to the fast growth of my future career more than the lack of ability of Utah colleges. It can be discouraging spending a year and plenty of money to learn something and look at a job application for my field and see nothing I've learned or will learn in college on that application.

My girlfriend is having a similar problem getting a job in her field as well. Everything she has learned is still useful, however even the internship programs require work experience to enter.

From what I've seen though I would definitely agree with much of what has been written. Things may have been easier for me if I hadn't waited so long after high school to go to college. And I can attest that working before college gave me a work ethic that passes onto studying.

Rather than blame the "thug culture", could it be that some young people look at the minimum wage and simply conclude that it's not worth it?

Lewt, I have heard young people say that the minimum wage is not worth it. They seem to think that they can go straight from High School into the well paying jobs. That's not how it works. It seems there is a whole generation of kids that don't know how to work and that working hard isn't necessary. Now I get those kids who are all out on their own now calling because they don't know what to do when they get sick, they don't have any money to pay and want to know where they can go for free. It seems some kids just don't learn how to work.

I didn't say not working was a good choice, but at $6 an hour, you can't pay for much health care, let alone "stimulate" the economy. I doubt these are the first young people to make such a discovery, though it has been about 10 years since the minimum wage was raised.

Lewt, not only are the wages depressed, but the jobs are hard to find. We have become so dependent on imported foreigners to do the low skilled entry level jobs that employers prefer not to make the effort it takes to train and depend on teenage workers. I know of a McDonald's in Payson, and a Wendy's in Spanish Fork that will not hire anyone that is not fluent in Spanish. English is nice, but not required.

Our youth have been taught that manual and menial entry level labor is beneath their dignity. Parents just fork over money to them whenever necessary and require little effort from their children. This is a sad state of affairs and doesn't bode well for the future of the United States.

It is not how much a kid earns so much as learning work ethics. As a single parent my kids started work just before 16, they needed transportation so I co-signed on vehicles, they made the payment as well as the insurance and what was left over was theirs - needless to say they have grown into good young adults/parents and know how to work for what they need in their lives, including putting themselves through college. It has to be taught in the home and too many parents find it to easy to hand over. PARENTS HAVE DONE THE DAMAGE, PARENTS ARE TRYING TO BE FRIENDS INSTEAD OF PARENTS