This article explains why today’s parents need to avoid the mistake of waiting for their kids to grow up before talking to them about ways of making money or earning income OUTSIDE paid employment.
The world as we know it today is very different from what it was when many of today’s parents were kids, over 2 decades ago.
Technology aided advancements have radically – and rapidly – transformed the way we live and work.
And that includes how we play our roles as adults in general, and parents in particular.
Decades Ago, Children Had Fewer Independent Sources Of Information For Making Career Choices
For example, about 30 years ago, I was a year away from becoming a teenager.
As a child from a middle class home, my awareness of opportunities the world of my country held for me was mainly limited to what I learnt from my parents, adult relatives, teachers and books.
Odd as it may be to admit today, I only read about computers in books and magazines.
It would be over 10 years later, in 1993, before I set eyes on a real desktop PC for the first time.
This was after I graduated from the university, and completed a year of compulsory national service.
I’d followed my instincts to enroll for an introductory course on MS-DOS, DBASE, Word Perfect and Lotus 1-2-3.
It lasted only for 4 weeks and touched mainly on the basics of each topic.
Yet less than a year later, I was rapidly implementing high profile PC based report generation solutions (in my spare time) while working as a shift brewer in a large corporate multinational manufacturer.
Another three years on, I became one of the earliest adopters of Internet technology in the company.
Back then in 1998, the company had not even given thought to providing Internet access anywhere on the premises.
Yet, within a week of learning that the first Cyber Cafe in my Benin city base was open, I’d become a customer, and soon after enrolled for private HTML webdesign coaching classes under the tutelage of a teenage cafe attendant.
Eight weeks after, while acting as Training & Technical Development Manager, I used my newly acquired HTML coding skills to create an information and news delivery network of web pages.
It served departmental engineering teams with best practice maintenance and training tips, and was hosted on the company’s intranet (with assistance from the local IT guys with whom I’d become friendly).
How Limited Information & Exposure To Opportunities Denied Me An Early Start In My Preferred Career
In reflecting on my performance in the above mentioned company, I realised that developing those valuable PC solutions came naturally to me.
As a result, even though I had no formal IT qualifications, I effortlessly excelled at it to the delight of my employers – and the appreciation of the company’s IT personnel.
The above fact remains evident in the work I do for clients, as it is on this blog, my websites, and in the unique solutions I provide e.g custom spreadsheet automation and web marketing systems development.
That’s why I’ve said in a previous write-up (based on the wisdom of hindsight) that if I had gained steady access or exposure to PCs earlier in life, I would most likely have never taken up paid employment – where I spent 7 years before finally quitting to take up my true calling 
Give Your Children Adequate Information & Exposure To Guide Their Career Choices
Which brings me to my core message for this write-up.
Due to the negative outcome of the experience I had, I’ve resolved to do everything in my power to help my children avoid a similar fate.
That’s why I constantly expose them to everything I believe can guide them to make smarter decisions about what they want to do for a living – earlier on in their lives.
For instance, I regularly share with them about how I earn income providing a variety of web based solutions to people within and outside the country.
In doing this I highlight the fact that people of almost all ages earn income in the same manner all over the world.
Just today I told them about a trend recently reported by Lulu.com, in which parents are increasingly collaborating with their kids to jointly self publish storytelling fiction books.
Through the above process, kids get an early and fun based introduction to the book writing and publishing business.
And as the case studies of families featured in the report revealed, there’s a good chance the kids may go on to gain useful public speaking and public relations exposure as they record success with sales of their published works over time.
Incidentally, for about 5 months now, I’ve been challenging my 3 sons (who are 9, 11 and 13 years old respectively) to finish off the short stories they’ve been taking turns to type on the laptop.
To secure their interest, I’d told them we would get them published like my own books.
As you can imagine, the Lulu.com report has now provided a valuable boost to the relevance of my message to the kids!
My purpose is to make them see that today’s technology driven world provides ready opportunities for them to make an early start in life.
The days when kids had to wait to finish school, then get a job to start earning income are long gone.
Your child can still follow that formula if it appeals to you, or her.
However, it’s important to let her know she can do both i.e attend school, and simultaneously learn to earn income – using her creative skills for instance, by writing.
Remember that there’s a good chance that other parents will be doing exactly that for their own kids today.
Therefore, as a responsible parent, you owe your child an obligation to provide the access and exposure needed to help her make up her mind intelligently.
Then you must support her to act on/implement her decision.
By so doing, you’ll equip her to compete effectively with her contemporaries, from early on in life.