Who's To Blame?

Monday I wrote a post about a teenager's use of shady sales tactics.  I got several comments here and on LinkedIn, and everyone agrees that it's incredibly sad that teenagers and young adults are taught to use sleazy sales methods.  I couldn't agree more.  There will always be companies that view sales as a zero-sum game, and unfortunately they often hire eager young people to do their dirty work.

But shouldn't the kid take a share of the blame?  After all, he's the one tricking people to into buying magazines they don't want. 

We don't overlook an adult's use of rotten sales methods just because that's how his company trained him, and I think the same standard applies here.  If a 10 year old tries to trick me into buying candy bars I can blame her age, but a teenager should know better than to manipulate people for his own gain.

Does anyone agree with my assessment, or am I judging this kid too harshly?