WASHINGTON — Summertime often means summer jobs for teens.

But is that always a good thing for young people?

Not necessarily, says Janet Bodnar, who has spent many years fielding questions from parents on how to teach their children — grown and underage — to handle money.

"The trouble is, even though a paying job can help teenagers sharpen their skills in the workplace, it can also be a two-edged sword," writes Bodnar in "Raising Money Smart Kids."

Bodnar goes on to say, "By encouraging kids to work, it's easy to create a generation of teenage werewolves, obsessed with feeding their ravenous spending appetites for even more clothes, cosmetics and concert tickets."

I've always liked the way Bodnar approaches the topic of kids and money.

Of course, that could be because I agree with a lot of what she advises, such as banning credit cards for teens.

I like Bodnar's advice so much that for this month's Color of Money Book Club, I'm recommending "Raising MoneySmart Kids: What They Need to Know About Money — and How to Tell Them" (Dearborn Trade Publishing, $17.95). Bodnar is a columnist and deputy editor at Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine.

Bodnar, who is the mother of three, dispenses good personal finance advice from battling advertising aimed at your children to dealing with allowance issues to how to handle a boomerang adult child.

I like Bodnar's balance, such as on the issue of whether teens should get a job. As she reports in her book, nearly half of all teenagers go to work once they reach 16.

"I remember with gratitude that my own mother let me keep my summers free when I was in high school," Bodnar writes. "One of my aunts frowned on such 'coddling,' and was always bugging Mom to make me get a job. But she held her ground."

What was her mother's rationale?

Bodnar's mother knew that soon enough her daughter would have to start work — and once she did she would be working all her life.

I'm increasingly frustrated at this notion that children must be introduced to adult things so soon in life, such as credit cards and working for pay.

And for many teens, working doesn't mean helping with the household bills or a college fund. It means they have more money to spend when their parents drop them off at the mall to buy stuff they don't need.

"It would seem, ironically, that they've learned the lesson: a buck will buy stuff, and lots of bucks will buy more," Bodnar writes.

If you're intent on teaching your child certain job-related skills, encourage them to volunteer, she says. "Kids are often given more responsibility in these positions than in paying jobs, and they get exposure to a variety of careers and to slices of life that they might not normally come in contact with."

Bodnar isn't against teens working, particularly during the summer.

But she says parents should keep control over how many hours they work — especially when school is in — and what they do with money they earn.

In fact, she reports that as long as you are supporting your children, you are entitled to at least a portion of their income unless you give them, either by formal agreement or practice, the right to spend and manage their own earnings.

Because Bodnar's book is peppered with questions from parents and children, it's an easy read.

I suggest you take the quiz at the front of the book. It's a good test of how money-smart — or challenged — you are.

For example, how would you answer this question?

Your son is heading for college in the fall and will need spending money. You:

(a) Tell him that if he stays in his room and studies, he won't need spending money.

(b) Agree to send a weekly allowance.

(c) Tell him to get a summer job.

(d) Discuss his needs, see what he has available from jobs and savings, and agree to supplement that with an appropriate allowance.

Personally, I like the first answer. Practically, Bodnar says you would be better off going with (d).