There is a related discussion here: http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2007/08/back_to_school.html http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2007/08/back_to_school.h

There is a related discussion here: http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2007/08/back_to_school.html http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2007/08/back_to_school.h... I think there has been a significant and artificial extension of childhood, and it is a bad idea. Expecting more from kids and giving them power and responsibility is a good idea. From that blog (which quotes these paragraphs from Kay Hymowitz): " Teen paid employment is at an all-time low; about 35% of teenagers are working at some point in the year, compared with close to half at the post-World War II peak in 1979. That's because for kids these days, summer is no different from the rest of the year; it's always time for education, or, more precisely, resume-building. In the junior-high and early high-school years, middle-class strivers spend summers at soccer, hockey, swim, diving or baseball camp to sharpen their athletic skills; they go to science, computer and arts camp to pump up their academic records. In their junior or senior year they jet off to exotic destinations to fill in the international travel/community service credential, building huts in Guatemala, supervising nursery-schoolers in South Africa or, as one company offers, reforesting fruit trees in Fiji. And then, finally, for many older teens, it's an internship, a part-time, usually unpaid, job-lite at an office in a business or nonprofit organization. "