It's been said that the earlier the better when it comes to getting kids to understand the responsibilities of working. My first job was in my dad's machine shop in Westmont, New Jersey when I was 12. My job was to walk between rows of machines spitting oil onto a concrete floor. Armed with a scraper...a straightened out garden hoe...and bags of Oil-Sorb, I'd go back and forth, spreading the absorbent material and then scraping it up into buckets. Truly a dirty job, long before the reality show!

There is no replacement for learning that it's hard to make a living. Truthfully, the structure of a real job at a young age is far more valuable than kids doing chores. The sense of accomplishment and reward with the appreciation of just how hard you really have to work to make a living is hard to duplicate. We had calls from all over the state today with the youngest workers starting around ten years old.

How old were you when you started working? Are you getting your kids started that young? Let us know on Facebook!

Bill Spadea is on the air weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m., talkin’ Jersey, taking your calls at 1-800-283-1015. Tweet him @NJ1015 or @BillSpadea. The opinions expressed here are solely those of Bill Spadea.

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