I just finished reading a newspaper editorial about what the writer called “the coddled generation.”

His premise was that much is given but little is asked of today’s youths.

The point might certainly be made that two or three generations ago there were more expectations of kids. If you were part of a family you were expected to do your share. For many, that meant starting at a young age to do chores or babysitting younger siblings.

In some cases teens worked to contribute to struggling families. Others did their part by earning their own spending money.

I never used the words “give me” or “Can I have” when I growing up. I don’t think my friends did either. We certainly didn’t have the expectation that parents existed to give us what we wanted.

On the other hand, I can’t remember ever longing for something I couldn’t have. I think that’s because I had so much.

I had roller skates that were put to good use every weekend at the arena skating rink, a nifty Schwinn bike to get me across town and plenty of cost-free adventures with my friends. What more could a kid want?

When I was 16 my mom discouraged me when I said I was going to get a part-time job. She said I had all my life to work. She came from the perspective of having to work at cleaning houses even before her teen years. Why did her daughter want to rush it?

But she never stopped me, and I can truly say I had memorable adventures I wouldn’t trade while working at the soda fountain in Rea and Derricks.

One busy Sunday morning I was the only one working the busy counter and had to rush from customer to customer. I guess I rushed too much because when I slid a cup of coffee across the counter it went too far and ended up in the guy’s lap. He was incredibly nice, refusing my offer to pay to dry-clean his suit. But I never got over my embarrassment every time I saw him.

If that happened today the guy would probably have sued.

I once read that no job experience is ever wasted, and I think that’s true. File it under learning experience.

The clerk at our local convenience store told me with her next paycheck she could buy her teenage son the $125 sneakers he wanted. I wondered why the teenager didn’t get a job to buy his own sneakers. There are help wanted signs all over and places are begging for workers.

That raises an interesting question. When do parents cross the line between helping and helping too much?

Is it true as the editorial writer said that today’s teens are coddled?

A friend of mine gets up early every day to drive her teenager three blocks to the bus stop. After school she’s there to drive him home. She says that’s not coddling; it’s necessary because it’s too hot to walk in Florida. Plus, she enjoys one-on-one time with him.

I just had an interesting conversation with the mother of a 20-year-old who is struggling to find himself. She said he doesn’t have a job and won’t go to college or take technical training until he figures out what he wants to do in life.

The mother said she’s just stepping back and not giving any input, letting him figure it out for himself.

“I just don’t want to put more pressure on him, yet I wonder if he’ll look back on this time and think we erred in not being more hands-on parents,” she said.

It’s a balancing act, that’s for sure, and we can probably make a case for either way.

I believe sometimes kids need a nudge in the right direction. If parents aren’t the ones to do it, another adult might help.

There’s a wonderful guy who, till this day, gives me credit for giving him the incentive to believe in himself and go to college.

Maybe he eventually would have figured it out for himself, but I’m grateful I was able to be there to give him the encouragement he needed.

Parental or teacher input sometimes makes a positive difference.

There are times when my younger daughter tells me she’s grateful I pushed her to take the newspaper internship she was offered instead of going with friends for a fun time in California. Yet she says she would never push her kids like that.

That internship was a big steppingstone in her career while the California trip would only be a memory.

I don’t think I pushed her. I just said she had to figure out what she wanted to be. If she wanted a career as a photojournalist she should take the internship. If she wanted to work in Pizza Hut, she should go to California.

One thing is certain. It’s harder to be a kid today than it was in the past. Maybe in some ways kids are coddled but in other ways they live in a pressure cooker, navigating through peer pressure, the proliferation of drugs, self-doubt and confusion.

When I think of my teen years the word that comes to mind is “carefree.”

How many teens today would use that adjective to describe their life?

Contact Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net.