Do you require your children to do chores? I don’t mean the occasional request to help with a little bit of cleaning. Instead, I mean regularly assigned tasks that you expect your child to complete on a daily or weekly basis. It appears that the majority of parents today are not assigning chores to their children.
A survey conducted by Whirlpool found that 82% of Americans did chores when they were children. That same survey found that only 28% of parents today are assigning their children chores. What changed between today and when the current generation of parents were kids?
Richard Rende wrote an opinion piece for CentralMaine.com titled Generation of kids is growing up without doing household chores. It’s an interesting read, and I suggest you check it out to get the “big picture” of what he is saying.
My understanding is that somehow, over the years, people started viewing chores as a negative thing. Previous generations framed chores as a necessary thing and also as a way for a family to share responsibilities and help each other. Today, it is seen as “drudgery”.
There are dozens of articles online that give advice to parents who are trying to figure out how to motivate their children to do chores. Use a “chore chart” to give your child a visual representation of the work they accomplished. Don’t use a “chore chart” because older kids don’t consider the opportunity to put a sticker on the chart as worthy of the work required to complete the chore.
Pay your child for each chore he or she completes. This will help the child associate working hard as the means by which they can earn money. Don’t pay your child for the chores he or she completes because you run the risk of having your child feel they are entitled to be paid for absolutely everything they do.
The list goes on. It has also been pointed out that one of the most common arguments between parents and children involves chores. It is easy to see why many parents have stopped asking their children to do chores. Don’t ask, and that’s one less argument you have to deal with.
Is there any hope? Some studies have shown that one way to motivate kids to do chores is to present it in a positive light. My experience as a preschool teacher taught me that saying “It’s time to pick up the toys” wasn’t motivating.
However, if I said “I need some good helpers to pick up the toys so we can sit down for story time”, things changed. Children who identified themselves as a “good helper” started picking up the toys. It worked best when I pitched in and helped, too. Other kids joined in.
I’d like to believe that this type of presentation of chores made the kids see it as a good thing. They got the opportunity to make life better for themselves and their classmates. It certainly wasn’t seen as a punishment, and nothing punitive happened to the kids who decided not to help out.
Image by Kate Ter Haar on Flickr.
Related Articles:
* Chores Can Prepare for a Strong Work Ethic
* Kids Need REAL Chores, Not Busy Work