Children and chores are, in my opinion, a good thing. There are several advantages to learning chores throughout youth. Children that learn to do chores growing up have an advantage for later in life.
While children are young they can learn to do chores for after they move from their parents home. Chores such as; laundry, yard work and housework can prepare a child for life on their own. Laundry is a great chore for children. It gives them the opportunity to learn how to separate clothes into different loads such as; a white load. One would want to teach them that only white clothes go into that load. Otherwise you could end up with all pink clothing if a red sock were to get mixed in. It would bleed throughout the load and tint all the white clothes. It also gives them the chance to learn how to use the washing machine and the dryer. They can be shown which settings to use for the different loads. Using the dryer, then having them fold the laundry or hang it up will help when they are own their own at college or when they get married. Yard work is also a great chore for children. It gets them outside for exercise also. They can learn how to mow the lawn by learning to work the lawnmower. They can maybe help in a garden or flower bed by pulling weeds. In the fall, they can rake leaves into piles and put them into yard bags. Snow shoveling can be done in the winter, in addition to doing it for a chore they could shovel the neighbors drive for a few bucks. This will help them when they have a house of their own later in life. House work is always needed to be done. This is a great chore for children to learn to keep their house tidy. There is always dirty dishes after dinner. Children can have the responsibility to wash and dry the dishes. They can learn how to put them away. This helps them learn how to stack them to save space or to make them fit properly. They can also learn to vacuum the carpet, dust the furniture, and take out the garbage. Keeping their rooms clean is another good chore. Learning these chores makes it easier for a child when they are older. They will have the experience to do things on their own for themselves or for their family. In some cases, there is an absence of chores while young. Some children have other activities that prohibit the learning of chores. Extracurricular activities, electrical devices, and just plain laziness are many things the can prohibit chores. Extracurricular activities are one reason chores may not work out for a child. Basketball, football, and volleyball players have long practices after school. Many children that participate in these activities do not have the time after they get home from practice to do anything but homework before bed. Many have games on the weekends that fill up much of their time. Other children may have a dance or karate class after school. They participate in recitals and tournaments on the weekends. Sometimes children are too busy to have chores to do also. Another reason some children do not have to do chores is because, in this day and age, many children head right to the video games and social networks on their electrical devices. They may say “I will do it after this game ends,” but after the game ends, they start another one and so on. When I was growing up, we did not have all these electrical devices such as; playstation or xbox. We did not have facebook and twitter to keep us busy. We had chores to do before we could go outside to play or watch tv. One more reason is just plain laziness. Many childrens parents decide to let their children do nothing instead of fighting with them about it. They might even do it wrong many times as to not have to do it again. The internet and video games also make children lazy. They spend too much time on them instead of wanting to learn how to do chores. They do not want to waste time doing chores. There is an article by Jane Smiley “The Case Against Chores” where she says she was not raised to do chores. She admits that her mother and grandmother did all the work and she “wasn’t expected to lift a finger when I was growing up” (Smiley,1995). I do not agree with her. I believe it truly helps a child to learn chores. Children should still have some kind of responsibility or chore whether or not time permits. I do not want to send my children out in this world without them knowing how to do things(chores). I may not be around to do the things that they need done, so I believe they need to learn them for themselves. I feel that children should be made to take the time to learn some chores needed in life, even if it is one hour, one day a week. It can only help them learn responsibilities and make it easier when they are an adult.
Smiley, Jane. “The Case Against Chores,” Harper’s. 1995
outline
I. Children and Chores A. Children should grow up having to do chores. B. There are several advantages to learning chores throughout youth. C. Children that learn to do chores growing up have an advantage for later in life.
II. While children are young they can learn to do chores for after they move from their parents home. A. Chores such as laundry, yard work and housework can prepare a child for life on their own. B. Laundry, yard work, and housework are good chores to learn. C. Learning these chores make it easier on a child when they are older.
III. Absence of chores while young. A. Some children have other activities that prohibit the learning of chores. B. Extracurricular activities, electrical devices, and laziness are many things that can prohibit chores. C. Children should still have some kind of responsibility or chore whether or not time permits. D. Children should be made to take the time out to learn some chores needed in life.
IV. Doing chores as a child helps them transition easier to a life on their own. A. Learning the chores that one needs to know how to do help them later in life.
