want something, you have to work for it. When they see that the video game they want takes 4 hours of lawn mowing to earn (or whatever), that opens their eyes and can help them in all kinds of ways.
For a couple of our kids, it took some extra prodding, but they all worked some kind of job where they had to punch a clock and put up with a boss, co-workers, and customers. I'm a strong advocate of having teenagers work outside the home.