Cultivating Work Ethics In Youths

The importance of work ethics in our young ones cannot be overemphasized. For an industrious society, it must start with the young ones. Bringing them up to imbibe the virtue that 'there is dignity in labour' and 'hard work does not kill' is the road to an illustrious, stable society.

Recently, I came across some young girls in their late teens discussing how they would get some 'pocket money' through funny means. It's nothing illegal, worry not. It dawned on me that these girls are at an age where they could work and earn some money to meet their basic needs rather than rely on other people to provide for them.

^{Image by: Brooke Cagle via Unsplash}

As a teenager, the importance of work ethics was grilled into me by my parents and I am thankful for it. At the age of 16, I worked as a teacher to primary school students so I could earn and not trouble my parents for pocket money.

I cherished my first pay because of the efforts I put in for the month. I ended up saving the money and my Dad was impressed that he gave me some money for my personal use. Ever since, I have always worked, earned and tried to gain some financial independence.

I'm thinking —what if these young girls were brought the same way and taught the importance of work ethics? It will not only make them hardworking, it will also bring them up to be independent. Beyond their financial independence, there would be no room for the 'entitlement' behaviour I see among our youths.

Many youths want a life of comfort and luxury but it starts now with hard work. The love of social media has taken over such that some of our young ones are obsessed about it. I read online about a teenager who attended an interview and while answering questions, he was multitasking by texting on his phone. Quite disrespectful.

Some entrepreneurs and people who make the Forbes list of rich people started young with a decent sense of work ethics and financial propriety. During holidays, they worked as interns or temps and started to build the kind of life they wanted in the future. I believe these contributed to their rise on the rich list ladder. Nothing good comes easy.

It's never too late to start building some ethics now. Let's start with our young ones and see our society and mindset change for the better.

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