Find your teenager a job, you never know where it could lead

Sleep is hit the hardest as time becomes disjointed. Scrolling at night and waking up after noon are becoming the norm.

This disruption to healthy sleep patterns poses a problem at the end of August, when reality crashes in and they have to start getting up early for school again.

Summer vacation is a special time. I still think about my own summer vacation: those days of generosity, summer jobs, girlfriends and parties that stretch like a patient released from the ether.

Parents feel like they could be like the Buckets who make their little Charlie work every hour and ruin his free time outside of school.

But if you're worried that your teen isn't active and just uses their device, I suggest you think about getting them a job.

I'm not talking about chimney sweeping, but getting involved in helping their local GAA club or local store to stock the shelves.

Something they can do while still having time to meet friends and enjoy the break from rigid school life.

We have memory for a very good reason: it helps us remember what threats exist, make sense of who we are today, and predict who we will be tomorrow.

Now, if we don't remember dealing with difficult people, having responsibilities, if we don't challenge ourselves and see what we are capable of, when we think about The future can be a very scary place.

Anxiety is the fear of an unknown future event.

The antidote to this is to have memories of dealing with things. You don't get these memories by playing games upstairs, staying in bed all day, scrolling on phones, or staying up all night.

This behavior creates the opposite effect. Children often shrink their lives: they stay in their room and that's about all they feel comfortable with.

This is not a child who is thriving, but a child who fears that he or she will not have the skills to deal with an unknown future event.

When this happens, the child develops low self-esteem. They are afraid of not being able to encounter what exists and therefore stay in their room.

This becomes a positive feedback loop: the thing they use to manage their fear is the thing that creates their fear.

Nothing can be more terrifying than finding yourself caught in a loop like this. You feel trapped, unable to escape.

We need to remind them of being competent and useful, of being valued by their community and of having something valuable to offer.

This is the root of true resilience. It’s the cure to a destructive feedback loop that envelops your child and depletes their self-esteem.

Summer jobs also help them understand money.

They learn the value of it. How many of us are constantly asked for money by our children?

We try to explain the value, but we know they have no interest in what we are saying. “Just hand over the money,” is the type of vibe you get.

But nothing shows a child the value of money like going out and working.

That first pay packet! My God, I still remember it. Opening that brown envelope, careful not to tear off James Joyce's head inside.

It was joyful. I felt proud. I had value and I could make money with it. We need our children to experience this, so they understand that earning money is hard and appreciate it more when they earn it.

When you don't enjoy something, you don't enjoy it. So, teaching our children the value of money is an important part of their transition to adulthood. And for their future happiness.

Working broadens your perspective on life. It introduces you to all kinds of people. Some audiences can be tricky.

I still remember some of the difficult people I had to deal with in my job at Douglas Books.

I still remember a beautiful girl who came into the store one day looking for a book.

Well, she said it was a book, but I think maybe it was your humble narrator she was looking for. We currently have three beautiful daughters together.

So the former summer job can bring more into your life than you could ever have dreamed of.

Getting your teen out and working a job this summer might just be the tonic the whole family needs.