I was having coffee with some friends last week when we started talking about why having a job as a teenager may be a really good thing.  Of course, from a teens perspective, the extra cash is always nice.  But as a parent, there’s nothing like a “real” job to teach kids a few life lessons.

A week earlier, I had a phone interview with a freelance writer about teens and working.  She asked if I thought having teens work was a good idea.  As long as work doesn’t get in the way of school, I’m all for it.  I like how having a part-time job can help teach kids time management.  I also like the idea of teens having a “boss” that is not mom or dad.  There tends to be a little more accountability that way.

As I’m describing this to the writer, she throws in that she had recently talked with a child psychologist who said that teens who had jobs growing up don’t do any better or worse  in their “real job” as adults than teens who didn’t have the pleasure of working when they were younger.

Hmmm.  Without grilling her on the study the psychologist was referring to – what did he mean by didn’t do any better or worse – I had to disagree slightly.  It could very well be that time management and working hard comes readily to adults regardless of having a job as a teen.

But there is absolutely nothing like having to earn and then manage your own money as a teen.  Living within your means, setting priorities, learning how to save, budgeting, and my favorite…making money mistakes – all learned before leaving the comfort of home.  Priceless.

Of course, there’s a lot more to it than that.  Parents need to be involved in helping their teens take advantage of these lessons.  And part of that is not bailing out their teens when they make mistakes.  A difficult thing for a lot of parents.

But as I was chatting that morning with my girlfriends, it was apparent that there was one more really important lesson that I had forgotten about.  The lesson that minimum wage is not going to provide our kids with the lifestyle they expect to live as adults.  And that lesson is worth every newspaper they throw, every dish they wash, every burger they flip…as teenagers.