MSU Red Cedar Message Board

I cut 2-3 lawns consistently between the age of 13-16... about $15 apiece (mid-90s). Easy money except for those 90+ degree days.

For a few summers from late high school to early college I worked at the Hancock Turf center at MSU. All the damn time, i'd come home from a long day in the hotass sun mowing and working with grass to have my dad say "time to mow the lawn." That always sucked. Lawns grow too damn fast,

Anyways, i don't think kids are encouraged to get jobs these days until they are like 17 or 18.

And I am only 23 but i feel like i notice the increased softness of younger kids. Sometimes i go to my younger cousins' sports games and I could swear that when my generation was ages 10-13, we didn't cry nearly as much as these softies.

EDIT: Oh! i forgot! When i was young I i totally would cut the grass for my elderly neighbors when the husband was out of town. I'd get like 20 bucks. That's a shit ton of money when you're 12.

I think the "kids these days" discussion is played and really stupid.

Kids are the same as they always have been. I'm sure there are a ton that do shit and get paid by neighbors and you don't see it. Actually, people aren't as wealthy, their are a ton of poorish kids who would love any job. If all you know are lame ass people with lame ass kids, then maybe you are looking in the wrong areas...

Oh and my kid's 6th grade sports cut kids regularly. My 3rd grader's baseball only awards trophies to the champions.

The rest of your complaining is manufactured self congratulatory BS (I survived the early 90's as a kid, I am special) people have been doing sense forever...

I've read "Kids these days" op ed pieces in newspapers going back a hundred years.

yep, it's not the kids that are shitty, it's the generation that raised them. i used to mow 2 lawns a day and get $50. took me a couple hours, but i'd be done by 1 or 2 at the latest depending on when i started. every kid in our neighborhood did this and we'd finish around the same time. we'd go play baseball, basketball, football, or soccer for a couple hours and then head over to someone's house to go swimming. we'd order pizza and got it delivered for dinner. when it got dark we'd come inside and play n64 for an hour or two and then everyone would head home. that was the life.

My kids currently would be gone 8-10 hours a day if we let them. I usually need to hunt them down for lunch/diner... then they want to go out again.

We limit their video gaming to the weekends. But even then they are gone. And they are playing with 5-6 other kids who aren't constantly stuck in front of the tv.

I think the people bitching about it are the ones who wont limit their kids tech or are pulling this stuff out their backside. Easier to bitch about the kids then at them. I think more then a few are 20 somethings who miss the "olden days" too.

The oldest is in 6th grade and I fully expect him to be working for the neighbor guy this summer.

How many people who like to regurgitate this buuulllshit (as if it was a problem) bother to do anything about it?

I swear it must be a talking point on limbaugh or something. The rocket scientists who parrot it are funny.

You deserve a Thank You! for raising kids who will be adjusted and productive. They might not like your rules now, but they will appreciate it when they are older and be better off.

Highly doubt it.

I just have my gardner manage my landscaping projects...

Not all teenagers are that lazy .......teenage girl next door mows mine for me every week

Back in the Dark Ages I had 5-6 yards on my "route" but things have changed. My customers were widows, some single people who didn't want to take the time to do the yard and a few retired couples where one or both couldn't do yard work but wanted to stay in their homes.

A lot of those kinds of folks are no longer living in the standalone dwellings where they raised their families. They are living in retirement homes that have exploded in the last 15-20 years and condo's where the sales pitch is no yard work or shoveling snow.

The DINKs don't consider hiring neighborhod kids because they are rarely home to know the kids in the neighborhood. The DINKS hire a plow service that does yard work in the summer. Others are people who mow their own yards or have their own kids mow.

Plus parents are a more hyper bunch now. I was using a power mower when I was 8, a rider mower when 11. My folks told me to keep my hands away fom the blades and never clean out the shute unless the mower was off and the blade had stopped. No worry about noise, wasn't told to wear gloves when handling gasoline. Now parents seem to be afraid to let their kids work.