Teen needs to miss a week at her internship this summer due to family vacation ...

[Anonymous]

This keeps getting better, "...large online following."

[Anonymous]

When I worked at the Smithsonian, the interns did the dusty old jobs that no one else would do. It wasn't rocket science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have college and graduate school level upaid interns at my job. These are very competitive spots, despite the fact that they are unpaid. I can tell you that our organization would be PISSED at an intern that pulled this. And interns have pulled things like this because they appear to not know any better. And in response, they haven't gotten jobs here. Or we've failed to give them positive evaluations. Or we've refused to serve as future references for employers and schools, etc. Acting like this has consequences. I get that this is just a high schooler we're talking about but honestly, it's parents like you that help explain why so many young people seem to suck. They have no sense of what is professional and what commitment means. You say this is a vacation that had been planned a long time ago. You also had the dates school ends and begins again a long time ago. Why didn't you parent better in this situation? When she interviewed/applied for the internship, why weren't these issues discussed within your own family? There should have been a discussion on the impact the internship would have on her end of the year, or the start of her new year, or the vacation. And if these things were incompatible, then you find another internship or opportunity. That's your role as a parent. To teach her how to handle these kinds of decisions. You do your child no favors by modeling for her that you shouldn't plan ahead or that it's "no big deal" to make commitments and then back out.

What a b****ch

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have college and graduate school level upaid interns at my job. These are very competitive spots, despite the fact that they are unpaid. I can tell you that our organization would be PISSED at an intern that pulled this. And interns have pulled things like this because they appear to not know any better. And in response, they haven't gotten jobs here. Or we've failed to give them positive evaluations. Or we've refused to serve as future references for employers and schools, etc. Acting like this has consequences. I get that this is just a high schooler we're talking about but honestly, it's parents like you that help explain why so many young people seem to suck. They have no sense of what is professional and what commitment means. You say this is a vacation that had been planned a long time ago. You also had the dates school ends and begins again a long time ago. Why didn't you parent better in this situation? When she interviewed/applied for the internship, why weren't these issues discussed within your own family? There should have been a discussion on the impact the internship would have on her end of the year, or the start of her new year, or the vacation. And if these things were incompatible, then you find another internship or opportunity. That's your role as a parent. To teach her how to handle these kinds of decisions. You do your child no favors by modeling for her that you shouldn't plan ahead or that it's "no big deal" to make commitments and then back out.

What a b****ch

maybe she is, maybe she isn't but if she's typical of what is expected from those who take in an intern from a competitive process, I suggest you take heed.

(and I don't think you sound like a b***ch, but rather like a busy person who has no patience for the primadonnas.)

[Anonymous]

Sounds pretty harsh. Miss a meeting at a part time internship?

[Anonymous]

Only you and your child can decide what's right, OP, because we don't know what the job entails. In the research labs I've worked in, some crucial parts of experiments should not be missed, and people have to be there physically in the lab at odd hours, any day of the week. So what's important to us is for people to tell us ahead of time when they'll take leave.

I also feel some posters are being overly dramatic. We're talking about a high schooler. High schoolers need to take vacation and relax! She should tell them her vacation dates ASAP and offer to come in at another time to make up for it.

[Anonymous]

This is why we do not have any high school interns at or a high school internship program at our office, although we have been asked. Total waste of time and resources, and pain in the butt parents.

[Anonymous]

My SIL always insists that her teenage kids get summer jobs, and then she has them quit the first week of August (2-3 weeks earlier than planned) for the annual, knew about it since March beach trip.

Needless to say, they never work for the same company twice. This year, one of them couldn't get a job to save his life - most likely because they called his "references."

[Anonymous]

How many weeks is the internship? If it started before school was out, itis likely to be done well before school starts again after Labor Day. She can have her vacation at that time. She committed to the internship and should have disclosed the conflict at the time of application. She should keep her commitments-she will need that recommendation next year.

[Anonymous]

I never took vacations as a kid/teen so I can't say I understand her *need* for one. Still, I agree with most PPs here -- if she's in high school and it's unpaid, it's fine to miss some time. As long as you give a few weeks notice, it's not that big of a deal.

Just remember that your daughter is the intern, not you. Help prep her for the experience but she should handle all interactions with the company!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thee must be a lot of worker bees on this thread. No vacation for that teen! No matter what !!

A lot of people who end up alone and miserable at the end of their lives and wondering why.

[Anonymous]

Don't you just love how the crazy competitive world for high schoolers have completely taken over family life. So much so a child has a difficult time going on a family vacation in the summer. I grew up poor and worked constantly as a teen. There was no money for family vacations. Now I am a mom who has teens and recently underwent chemotherapy for cancer. My advice is that if you are able to, take the family vacation! You will not always have this opportunity. Family time is very important in the grand journey of life!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Only you and your child can decide what's right, OP, because we don't know what the job entails. In the research labs I've worked in, some crucial parts of experiments should not be missed, and people have to be there physically in the lab at odd hours, any day of the week. So what's important to us is for people to tell us ahead of time when they'll take leave.

I also feel some posters are being overly dramatic. We're talking about a high schooler. High schoolers need to take vacation and relax! She should tell them her vacation dates ASAP and offer to come in at another time to make up for it.

+1 I think some of these posters are really angry at adult millennials.

[Anonymous]

I think the point is that the teen,herself, should have negotiated the week off when offered the internship, like when you get a job offer. Not that she should not take the week off at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. It's only a meeting that she is missing. Unfortunately an important one. I'm not calling her boss for her ! This is something she has to do for herself. And to the pp who is all burned up ... You get what you pay for. Pretty entitled of you to think that college and grad students should work for free.

You have a high estimation of your high school kid's value in the labor market.

My son has an internship (competitive) and he isn't paid because he will be learning. Trust me - he's bright, eager, but of no value to them. They will have to invest time in him and can't jsut have him file for the month. I don't think you understand the difference between an internship and a job.

Yes, some interns are taken advantage of, but many firms invest a lot of time in them (and time is money).

My DD is doing a computer job. It is much cheaper to have her do it. Computer professionals are expensive. Also she has a large following on the internet. So she does have value. Perhaps that is why 74 other HS students did not get the job. She is missing a meeting -- the total hours will be the same.

Wait a minute. This is OP immediately above, right? So you start out saying your high school daughter needs to miss a week of an internship, and it's not paid, weak health excuse, it's only one meeting, etc. etc. but NOW you tell us that 74 other HS kids did not get the job? Damn right, she should do the work. Think of those 74 who didn't get that job. My DD - in high school - was the first high schooler ever to get an internship, unpaid, on a Senate Committee. It IS work for the Committee to run these internships. It IS of more value for the student than for the employer. It is a courtesy of the highest level and my DD worked damn hard to get it and no way is she going to flounce in there and say she's not showing up because of some family vacation. We are having no family vacation this year because of of one college student in a great paid (poorly) (but paid) gig in her field and the other, a high-schooler, in the Senate. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get some of these elite internships and especially a paid one in your designed field? Of course the internships and career investments come first - that's how both got into top universities. Hard work. OP is one lucky parent and should count her stars that her kid beat out 74 other kids for this internship and support her daughter to do a good job, be respectful, and get a good reference out of the experience.