How the Rich Raise Kids

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Eike Batista (worth 7.5 billion, on his way to being the richest man in the world) was talking about raising children and he said that children must be "made to suffer".

He made his own kids take hard dirty jobs when they were growing up so that they would learn to work and learn the value of money.

It made me think. I suspect that he put his finger right on what is going wrong with America.

Welfare kids never suffer; they simply receive their living for doing nothing. Middle class kids never suffer, they simply receive all the toys and goodies from their parents for doing nothing.

Kids have to learn the value of work. If they don't work for money, they never understand the value of money.

My own child grew up in a rich neighborhood, and the kids of the new rich were spoiled beyond belief; every toy in the book, designer clothes, anything and everything they wanted. Some of those kids didn't turn out so well, just doing nothing while they wait to inherit. When they do inherit, they often blow through the fortune.

The children of the old money were raised differently. They were expected to find a talent and work hard to develop it. It didn't matter what: art, singing, soccer, just something that they put some serious effort into. They were expected to work on some sort of public service every year; work for a charity, do some sort of donated work, it didn't matter what, but they were expected to give back to the community. Some of those old fortunes have persevered through centuries, each new generation trained in how to take care of it.

I've seen a few good middle class parents demand the same of their kids, and their kids are great people. But look around and see how many kids are raised to expect life to just be handed to them.

If kids don't suffer, they grow up with that entitlement mentality that is growing like a cancer in the USA and that I, personally, believe threatens to be the end of the USA.

[Ingrid Nagy]

Maybe this is an exception but I'm not sure. I worked for a "rich" guy. He did the get a job, hard work routine with his kids. They are now in their mid 40's. They have never held a job for more than one year. Sadly, they now sit arguing about who is getting the bigger stipend each month of daddy's money.

How you live your life by the values you establish and the rules you set and follow in your household set the stage for how most children learn.