Should teens have a job? What about during the school year?

[Anonymous]

My daughter asked for permission to start looking for a job when she turns 14. She wants to apply at a few places around town, and she says her goal would be around 20 hours/week during the school year and full time in summers. I think it's far too young and I almost told her no immediately, but I have decided I should at least consider it so I'm trying to keep an open mind. What do other parents think of this?

[Anonymous]

Did you have a job as a teenager?

[Anonymous]

20 is above the amount of hours experts say students can work without affecting grades.

Working is fine. Not all kids are into school activities and sports. So maybe 10 hours is reasonable.

Personally, I think 14 is younger than I think is reasonable if money isn't an issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you have a job as a teenager?

OP here. No, or at least not formally until I turned 18. I occasionally babysat, but my parents wouldn't allow a "real" job during the school year and during summers I watched my younger siblings, so no pay and no time for a job.

[Anonymous]

14 is too young unless it is very limited and more of a volunteer thing (i.e. helping at the library or a rec center).

At 15, if she is mature, sure she could have a job that is mostly on weekends. Same with 16-18.

I worked 12-17 hrs every week but we didn't have AP classes and lots of homework back in the day. The store closed at 9:00, so I was always home by 9:15pm. Wegmans will hire 15 yr olds (if you have one nearby). I think it is great that she wants to work -- but 20 hrs is going to be too much probably. Depends how much of those 20 are on the weekend.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I think kids should work. But even for me, 14 seems young.

[Anonymous]

I think it's fine. My kids started a little older though and that was because we didn't live anyplace that would have been walking or bike riding distance to a place they could work and we didn't have the ability to give rides at the hours younger teens can work. Once they were driving, they started working maybe 20 hours a week.

I always worked growing up - grew up in the era of paper routes and delivered newspapers from the time I was 10. My wife never worked until after college. But she was played basketball and went to college on a scholarship. Despite the difference, we like that we have the opportunity to work with them on job related skills and money management.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:20 is above the amount of hours experts say students can work without affecting grades.

Working is fine. Not all kids are into school activities and sports. So maybe 10 hours is reasonable.

Personally, I think 14 is younger than I think is reasonable if money isn't an issue.

Thanks, that's a good point to consider since grades are most important for a student. I don't think I would have a problem with her working a few hours a week once she's older, maybe 16. I have seen that be good for some of my friends' children develo0img responsibility and stronger college applications, so maybe 10 hours would be a good compromise.

Our family is not having any money problems and currently she gets an allowance every week for spending money.

[Anonymous]

20 hours for a 14 year old is not okay. I used to babysit on weekends at that age and might have worked 10 hours total.

My DS, who is 15, has a job working the scoreboard at the rec center for basketball games. He probably works about 3-5 hours on a Sunday. While we give him an allowance, he likes earning that money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:20 is above the amount of hours experts say students can work without affecting grades.

Working is fine. Not all kids are into school activities and sports. So maybe 10 hours is reasonable.

Personally, I think 14 is younger than I think is reasonable if money isn't an issue.

Thanks, that's a good point to consider since grades are most important for a student. I don't think I would have a problem with her working a few hours a week once she's older, maybe 16. I have seen that be good for some of my friends' children develo0img responsibility and stronger college applications, so maybe 10 hours would be a good compromise.

Our family is not having any money problems and currently she gets an allowance every week for spending money.

Me again. My son is a junior with some AP classes. He doesn't have remotely 20 hours of downtime a week and he is not big into school activities, just has one. He has a Thursday sports clinic and sometimes doesn't make it due to school demands (and he is very organized about getting stuff done on time).

[Anonymous]

I've had a job since I was 11. At first it was just delivering Oennysavers during the weekend and on paper they hired my mom knowing it was me doing the work. Then it was delivering the newspaper every day. At 14 I got a job as a cashier at the supermarket- they generally gave me about 15 hour a week. 4-7 twice during the week, 7-1pm on Sundays and a three hour shift at some point on Saturdays. I LOVED it. I was in ninth and tenth grades. I did fine in school.

So yes I would let my DD work at 14.

[Anonymous]

I own my own business so my kid works for me at age 14. She loves it. She earns money and I get a lot of stuff done that no one wants to do.

[Anonymous]

One of my favorite phone interview questions is "tell me about your first job". Candidates who talk about internships or entry-level professional jobs go in the "no" pile.

I think teenagers should work. Definitely in the summer, and during the year if they can manage it. But 20 hours per week is too much during the school year.

I also think 14 is a bit young, especially if your kid is relying on you to take them to/from work. Neighborhood lawnmowing/babysitting/dog walking would be great at this age.

[Anonymous]

If your kid doesn't have any activities and already gets good grades, I'd say yes on a trial basis. I think something informal is best to start with such as babysitting. I babysat starting in 6th grade but if I had a lot of work, I'd just turn down jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of my favorite phone interview questions is "tell me about your first job". Candidates who talk about internships or entry-level professional jobs go in the "no" pile.

I think teenagers should work, at least in the summer, but that seems like a pretty short-sighted policy.