Teen Pocket $$$

[Anonymous]

Do you allow or encourage your teen to do odd jobs, (babysitting, snow-shoveling, etc.,) in the neighborhood?
Does your teen want to work?

[Anonymous]

Not here quite yet, DD 11, but think what we will do is encourage her to do so to purchase things that are over and above what we think is reasonable.

Ie- my parents would always buy my brother his shoes. Sometimes he would want some insanely expensive Nike, etc, you get the idea. So they would say look, we will pay for this pair of shoes. If you really want the nicer ones, you can put up your own money. And he did. It was a good lesson.

I wanted to work as soon as I turned 14. The one thing I would say is never have your child work in a restaurant. Its not that restaurant work is bad- I actually think its good money and great for the character / work ethic, but its the interactions with others that can be a problem.

Any kid that works in a restaurant is interacting on a regular basis with 20 somethings and older who may or may not have gelled on a traditional track. This is how a lot of girls get involved with older men.

Realize this is not what you are asking, but both DH and I always say we don't want our kids to do this. We both did this and had different, but inappropriate experiences that probably would have happened less had we not worked at restaurants and been so close with other age groups that were not our own.

This won't be true for everyone, but its true enough for plenty of people I know that its worth pursuing other opportunities for teens supplementary income. I do think working is good for character and teens should do it.

[Anonymous]

PP here- the money my parents would ask him to pay was the amount in excess of the shoes they would agree to- not the whole amount.

[Anonymous]

She babysits occasionally but we will only let her do it when it isn't a school night.

[Anonymous]

Our teen DS, a 10th-grader, babysits, shovels snow and does other random n-hood jobs (e.g., pet care) as schoolwork and extracurricular activities permit. In addition, he had a very low-key summer job at a camp. During the school year we trust him to set priorites and manage them well.. He's a disciplined and motivated kid who knows that school work comes first, then his commitments to sports, and that paid work must fit into these priorities. Because he can handle this responsibility, we see many benefits from his money-making gigs. He's learning to deal with employers -- to ask questions when he doesn't understand instructions, to admit mistakes and to speak up if he thinks something doesn't make sense. Moreover, he is much more careful about financial decisions when he's spending the money he earns as opposed to his allowance. Our neighbors have been very generous not only in offering him opportunities to make some money and in their compensastion for his work, but, most important, in their complimenting him for his responsibility and initiative. The only down-side is that we have to book him in advance to babysit for his younger sister if we're planning to go out!