Anonymous wrote:Part time jobs in the formal sector and internships do not exist for MS kids.

Every volunteer gig requires an adult to be present.

That's entirely false. My 13 yo is volunteering at a food pantry this summer--there are lots of teens there (with adults supervising of course). The volunteer jobs that you can sign up for are restricted by age.

I also get tons of emails from the MCPS school district showing volunteer options available to teens through their SSL program...some are for 12 and up, some for 16 and up, some 18 and up, but I've not seen ones that require a parent to be there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PT job, volunteering, internship?


Let the kid be a kid. What the hell.

+1 go outside and play with friends, you only have a few summers like this left

NP but how many people have the infrastructure so that their kid can do this? (Ie local pool or park, transportation to said pool or park, friends who are consistently available). We have the first two but not the third because everyone else is in structured activities.

Ages 11-13, volunteered at day camp for kindergarten kids and helped teach reading at library.

My 13 yo is a junior counselor at a nature camp she used attend and is her "happy place." She also does a sport 2x week (one evening, one weekend morning) and will go to sleepaway camp for 2 weeks. She had one week of "nothing" but didn't like it (she always says she needs more downtime but realized she likes to have some structure). My 11 yo (rising 6th) did summer school enrichment through our district for the month of June, is doing 2 weeks of sleepaway, and doing a mix of day camps, week at Grandma's. We are also taking a couple of family trips.

I feel bad we don't have the kind of summer where they can get together with friends or hang out at the local pool (we live too far away for them to get to those places on their own, and DH and I work during the day). I think my 11 yo would love that.

Some places will take them as counselors in training starting at 13. That is what my oldest did at that age and it puts them in the pipeline to get hired for pay when they are old enough.

My rising 8th graders are having a lazy summer. One does summer swim and club swim, so there is some structure there, but the other is straight chilling and hanging out with friends at the pool. There just is not a lot out there for kids that are 13-14, and we were too late to the sleepaway camp game. I just tell myself they only have 1 more summer like this, and after that summer will never have quite the same magic as it does when it’s a stretch of entirely free time.

My 13 year old is trying to drum up some business as a "mother's helper," aka a babysitter but the kids are home or working. CIT is another option.

OP - are you Indian or Asian by chance?

I work at a place that has both volunteers and interns. The volunteers must be 18, no exceptions. The interns must be in 11th or 12th grade, no exceptions.

My rising 8th grader hangs out with friends, takes several vacations with the family, and does an evening sports practice twice a week. It's bonkers to think a MS kid should be doing an internship.

Anonymous wrote:PT job, volunteering, internship?


Let the kid be a kid. What the hell.

+1 go outside and play with friends, you only have a few summers like this left

PT job, volunteering, internship?


Let the kid be a kid. What the hell.

Can your child “work” as a counselor in training at one of the camps you referenced?

Part time jobs in the formal sector and internships do not exist for MS kids.

Every volunteer gig requires an adult to be present.

What does your middle schooler do in summer? Mine does camps. One week of sleepaway camp, a few weeks of day camps and a few weeks of day camps that travel daily. I wonder if they should do something like volunteer, part time job in neighborhood, or other internship (do they have any for middle schooler?).