I think if a child is smart enough to game the system, the parent should be able to recognize that and make the appropriate adjustments. A child old enough to get an outside job is probably far too old to give a crap about hand-drawn tokens, but is also smart enough to better understand vague concepts like “responsibility.”
Child development has been well researched enough to show that children at age 4 view the world largely centered around themselves (very “me” oriented) but in just two short years recognizes that others experience emotions the same way that they do. As they continue to age, they can be brought up in a family and taught about responsibility without the requirement to use games or tricks – I think that’s pretty normal for any family, but perhaps I have my own biases.
