I love seeings kids working

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone who held a minimum wage fast food job as a teen, I guess it taught me that fast food is full of crazy drug addicts. I paid for my.driver's Ed classes with my fast food money, so that was something. I wish I'd spent the summer on classes instead.

I still can't eat food from that restaurant.

At 16, I worked retail with a man I later realized was a paid escort for his “real” job. The ladies of DC paid him $$$$.

I certainly had an education. My manager also told me to go to college so I’d never end up a retail store manager like her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The notion that kids need to work is a very middle class idea. MC parents think that low-wage, unskilled work is the only way a kid can “learn the value of a dollar.” They also associate physical work with “real work.” UMC people have every expectation that their kid will never perform such a job, so they focus on providing their kid experiences, further education/tutoring, and social skills.

I disagree. We are UMC and we encourage our kids to have jobs. Both of us grew up UMC, and didn't work much at all until we had "real jobs." We think that it made us both a little lazy and bratty, without realizing the value of money and budgeting.

So I do not think that you can generalize about an entire class of people, because plenty of UMC people that I know have working teens, even if it's just scooping ice cream in the summer.

Also, I think it gives kids confidence to do a job, even if it's just lifeguarding etc.

Definitely this. I was a really shy kid but my parents expected me to work starting at 16 (UMC family). It really pushed me to be more confident. Also there's nothing like being accountable to other adults who expect you to show up on time and do a job.

Agreed. Oldest kiddo has a job and confidence exploded.

[Anonymous]

PS: I met a 16 yo coder who worked for $35 or more remotely. The company had assumed he was 30! He is one of those kids on the spectrum who is a genius.