While in the home, there is little experience that leads to learning the direct relationship between effort and reward. Aided unintentionally by parents, the work ethic in some children is slow to bloom and sometimes does not bloom at all. Parents' words might reflect a strong work ethic but their actions might be inconsistent. Even to a child, when there is inconsistency between words and behavior, the behavior is perceived as reality. A child starts many new projects or hobbies but then loses interest and never follows through to completion.
Parents help their child excessively with homework and other school projects.
Parents threaten children with punishment for breaking rules and other infractions but they hardly ever follow through. Parents jump into protect their child from directly experiencing the consequences of inappropriate behavior. A child responds to a parent with rudeness and disrespect and seldom displays good manners. Parents permit children to watch a great deal of television daily, even on school days, because then the parents are not being bothered. From a child's point of view, life is good.