That’s a tough question to answer. In this week’s magazine, columnist Susie Schoellkopf explores this controversial topic in her Between Rounds column “Hard Work–Unfortunately, It’s Not For Everyone” on p. 83. It’s contentious because many people believe that today’s generation, especially, is growing up in a culture that strives to make everything better through having it easier and faster. They’ve been raised to look for short cuts. For example, there’s no need to actually go the library for research purposes–just sit at your computer and Google away. (More on Google later.)

Every generation faces this same question from the generation before. We’ve all heard our parents say something like: “Well, it wasn’t that way when I was growing up. You have it so easy. You ride a bus to the front door of your school. I had to walk miles and miles, through snow, rain and sleet (without the benefit of Gortex, no less), to get to school. Sometimes I even had to start a fire to heat the one-room schoolhouse if I got there first.”

The younger generation scoffs at these stories, but our parents and grandparents do see it that way. But, in reality, it’s not necessarily a flaw in today’s children and their lack of drive that’s forced such changes, it’s the modifications mandated by society. In addition to living in a more litigious world today, most of our towns and cities (and even some rural areas) are just not as safe as they were in the 1970s and ’80s. Sadly, in most areas children shouldn’t walk to school without an adult.

From a historical perspective, the work ethic is a relatively new phenomenon. For thousands of years, people worked simply to survive. Over time, however, people began to see the positive value in working hard and the personal achievement that resulted in doing a good job. The definition of work became more complex as our society evolved.

Researchers say children develop a strong work ethic through observing their parents, siblings and peers. At first, they work hard for the positive reactions from parents and teachers. Gradually, as they mature, they realize that hard work has an internal value, then personal satisfaction develops. And, if their hard work happens to be in riding, a breakthrough moment could be the first time they earn a ribbon in the walk-trot class after working hard to master their diagonals.

Now back to Google. Yesterday the two 33-year-olds who started the world’s most popular Internet search engine purchased YouTube for $1.65 billion. Now, the two entrepreneurs who established YouTube, a popular Internet video sharing and streaming service, are among the richest twentysomethings in the world. Chad Hurley and Steve Chen began their business in a garage, graduated to space above a pizzaria and are now household names. Their work ethic and passion carried them far beyond their imaginations.

The top horsemen in our equestrian sports have that work ethic because they found their passion in horses. No one can deny that working with horses is a tough job, with long hours in difficult conditions. Like Hurley and Chen, many of our most successful riders and trainers started at the bottom and worked their way up through sheer determination.

Susie asks how we can help our children develop and retain that work ethic through their lives. Perhaps it’s as simple as nurturing them, setting a positive example, and assisting them in finding their passion in life. It’s harder to have a strong work ethic if you don’t like the work you do. But when you enjoy what you do, you look at it not as a job, but as a way of life.

Tricia Booker