Should teens have a job? What about during the school year?
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Anonymous
It's been pretty effective so far. |
Anonymous
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Well, most retail, etc. won't hire a 14 year old.
But if she is responsible enough, she should look into dog walking, babysitting, etc. around the neighborhood. |
Anonymous
What kind of jobs are you interviewing for? |
Anonymous
| What HS kid in the DMV with decent grades in honors and aP has 20 hours a week. If it wasn't an economic necessity, I would let a 14 year old babysit, pet sit, or do something like PP's son who runs a scoreboard. Summers, fine. Junior year, I would allow up to 10 hours a week, depending on schoolwork and extracurriculars. But a HS kid's job is, first and foremost, schoolwork. Then, spending some time with the family and some amount of social time and extracurriculars. If all this happens and there is extra time, sure. Paid work is good. But in this area, it is hard to find that extra time. |
Anonymous
How do you feel about reffing? With certifications? |
Anonymous
OP here, and this was one of my concerns. My daughter seems pretty serious about wanting a job, though, because she's done quite a lot of research to show me her suggested schedule, which looks like she could make this work. She's only in 8th grade now, so she has no real idea about the difficulty of HS classes, but she's never earned less than an A minus in her current classes (taking honors in all cases where it's an option) and is therefore taking almost all honors next year in 9th grade as well. She says she's spoken to friends' older siblings who have taken those classes, and claims that based on what they reported she most likely will have 2-3 hours per night of homework next year. Given that, and the fact that she is interested in two extracurriculars offered at the high school, both of which seem to meet one afternoon per week plus occasional Saturdays, she suggested a schedule that would allow her to do 4-hour shifts three weekday afternoons and one 8-hour shift on a weekend day, per week, leaving 2 weekday evenings for ECs and extra homework, plus one or both weekend days for extra socializing. She also offered, entirely unprompted, that if any quarter grade was less than an A minus she knew I would require her to cut back hours or quit entirely because it would show she couldn't handle all the responsibilities she chose to take on (she's definitely right about that, if I even let her work at all). I think the schedule she intends for herself is too demanding, and honestly I'm not sure if any local shops would hire her for as many hours as she wants, but if she's this passionate about the idea I'm slowly becoming more inclined to at least let her try applying at least. I suppose there's something to be said for encouraging motivation and allowing her to find her limits herself, as long as she's aware that it's a trial basis contingent on the fact that the job is not overwhelming her ability to meet other commitments. |
Anonymous
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NP - granted this was 15 years ago, but I went to TJ - had good grades, took plenty of AP classes, had a part time job in seasons where I didn't play sports and a full time one all summer starting at 15. I LOVED making money - this isn't necessarily something to discourage if she has hustle and drive.
I did some retail but my main job was lifeguarding which can be great. There is a lot of downtime so you can fit in some school reading, it's not a physically draining job, and the hours are outside of school hours. I also worked at Fairfax Ice Arena during their private skate times starting people's music to practice their routine. Again it was an easy job and I could do some school reading during it. 20 hours during the school year seems like a lot, but 15 was very feasible (one full weekend day, 2 evenings a week). She can always quit if it's too much |
Anonymous
Association staff. |
Anonymous
New poster. CAE, for that matter. I think it may be a little shortsighted to reject a candidate just because the candidate's first job was an internship or entry-level professional job. As evidenced here, not all children would be able to get a job because of the lack of a parent's willingness to support it. And your policy completely disregards any athletes or band/chorus/drama enthusiasts whose extra-curricular activities would probably make holding a contemporaneous job unwise. This includes college where athletes and other talented students are 'working' 20-30-40 hours a week on refining their talents outside of the classroom. Just a thought for you to ponder ... |
Anonymous
| My DD is 15 and is going to lifeguard this summer. She is a year-round athlete so the summer job should work out well for her. |
Anonymous
| At 14 I was babysitting every weekend during the school year and in the summer I babysat an 8 year old every day full time. It was awful! But I made a commitment and my mom and dad wouldn't let me quit. I got great grades, played 2 sports and did the school play and still worked about 15 hours/week through high school - mostly babysitting, cashier at a grocery store, filing papers at a doctor's office, and a waitress at the diner. I also volunteered at the hospital, was very active in youth group, and taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School. Summers were a lot more hours. But I loved to work and was always busy! My parents made me save for college and I paid my own car insurance, gas, other fun stuff I wanted. My HS boyfriend and other friends worked with me at some of the jobs so it was always fun. |
Anonymous
| My 15 year old son would like a job, but can't find any place that hires that young. |
Anonymous
You can play sports, and participate in the arts and still hold a summer job. I never said they had to work FT during school. And frankly, I wouldn't hire someone whose parents prohibited them from getting a summer job. I really don't want to deal with an employee's mommy whenever things don't go junior's way. But look, if you think your child is above menial work in the summer, by all means, get him an internship at your college roommate's firm. I'm sure he will go on to a great career, just not at my organization. |
Anonymous
| It's sort of low status to assume a brainless part-time job gives your kid grit, maturity, time management, whatever. Many of the biggest screw-ups I knew in high school always had jobs. Potheads had jobs ... perfect puritans had jobs. Jobs can be great but stop pretending scooping ice cream or washing lettuce or wiping a table guarantees is going to transform your immature prick. |
Anonymous
How does your policy have anything to do with a job candidate's ability? |