Jim Harbaugh, head coach of the Michigan Wolverines football team, recently expressed concern that young American kids are not showing enough initiative. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Harbaugh said that he is saddened to see that kids are not mowing lawns anymore, which was a common way for kids to earn money and learn about responsibility.
“It used to be kids mowing the lawns. I was that kid, out mowing lawns, earning some money. Now it’s a truck and a crew at every house,” Harbaugh said.
READ MORE: More adult kids living with parents; 36% of Americans think it’s bad for society: Poll
Despite acting as head coach of a prestigious college football program, Harbaugh still mows his own lawn and said he’d consider making yard work his career if he wasn’t a football coach.
“It accomplishes three things,” Harbaugh said of cutting his own grass. “I’m clearing my mind or thinking of new plays; I feel good about what I accomplish; and I either make money or I save money.”
Last year, a Pew Research Center poll showed more young adults live with their parents than in years past, and more than one-third of Americans say the trend is bad for society.
Overall, 36 percent told Pew the trend was negative. Only 12 percent of men said it was a good thing, and while women were more forgiving, 31 percent still said it was negative.
At 41 percent, white adults were most likely to say it’s bad for society by a healthy margin, with Hispanic adults the next most likely at 28 percent. Negative attitudes toward the trend increased with age as well as income.
There was also a partisan divide: 48 percent of Republicans think it’s bad for society, while 29 percent of Democrats think the same.
However, almost across the board, about half of all demographics in the poll think the trend doesn’t make a difference. The people who told Pew it’s either good or bad for society are only about half of respondents collectively.
