Anonymous wrote:I think at 14, boy or girl, I would only hire a neighbor’s kid who I know well. And not for a child younger than 5-6.

+1 We have boys and would prefer to hire high energy male babysitter 16+ but might do 14 if we knew the sitter well. Don’t give up OP keep making social connections and soon your son will be in demand.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have two boys, I would not hire a male babysitter. I just wouldn’t. I realize it’s a double standard, but I was molester by a male babysitter and it’s not worth the risk for me.

You will one day reap the irony of failing to trust young men when your young men are not trusted one day.

Oh shut up. What kind of parent would put their kids in the same situation they were molested in.

Ok. Just be prepared for your kids to always be viewed as pedophiles.

It's ok. My son will get over the discrimination over babysitting and daycare jobs.

Anonymous wrote:I think at 14, boy or girl, I would only hire a neighbor’s kid who I know well. And not for a child younger than 5-6.

This is just so odd to me. I was watching kids as young as toddlers from 12 on. Mostly just for a few hours so mom and dad could get a meal alone. This was before cell phones! The horror!

I think at 14, boy or girl, I would only hire a neighbor’s kid who I know well. And not for a child younger than 5-6.

14 is a bit young around here. I’d hire a 14yo to watch my son if he was 9 or 10, but not for a child much younger than that.

He might have better luck in a few years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have two boys, I would not hire a male babysitter. I just wouldn’t. I realize it’s a double standard, but I was molester by a male babysitter and it’s not worth the risk for me.

You will one day reap the irony of failing to trust young men when your young men are not trusted one day.

Oh shut up. What kind of parent would put their kids in the same situation they were molested in.

Ok. Just be prepared for your kids to always be viewed as pedophiles.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have two boys, I would not hire a male babysitter. I just wouldn’t. I realize it’s a double standard, but I was molester by a male babysitter and it’s not worth the risk for me.

You will one day reap the irony of failing to trust young men when your young men are not trusted one day.

Oh shut up. What kind of parent would put their kids in the same situation they were molested in.

Anonymous wrote:I have two boys, I would not hire a male babysitter. I just wouldn’t. I realize it’s a double standard, but I was molester by a male babysitter and it’s not worth the risk for me.

You will one day reap the irony of failing to trust young men when your young men are not trusted one day.

Anonymous wrote:What’s he going to do without a car if the kids need to be rushed to a hospital?

Call 911? Do you want a teenager driving your kids anywhere, let alone rushing them to a hospital at high speeds and through red lights?

It’s not really a thing where I live, but day camps always need male counselors and I think that would be a great option for your son over the summer.

I have two boys, I would not hire a male babysitter. I just wouldn’t. I realize it’s a double standard, but I was molester by a male babysitter and it’s not worth the risk for me.

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised at this thread. My DS babysits and he is 17. He has several families that call him regularly. He mostly babysits boys, but half of the kids in the US are boys so that is a decent market for him. Just get the word out in your neighborhood. (he doesn't babysit for babies and doesn't have any girl families that use him).

+1 I have 3 boys and used a 15 year old male babysitter when they were 10, 5, and 4. They loved it when he babysat them as he was willing to get out and play versus stay on his phone and boss them around all evening. Granted, he was a neighborhood kid and we knew his parents. We also knew his parents were home when we went out so we trusted he would call them if he ever needed them. I just couldn't imagine not giving him a chance when I knew that I would one day want someone to give my own boy a chance in a similar situation.

My oldest did babysit a bit when he hit the same age, although he admittedly did not enjoy it as much as our neighbor did and didn't do it often. We moved shortly after and the other two boys didn't hit the new community at the right time to be a babysit.

OP, I'm guessing there are families like ours out there who are open to boy babysitters, but it may be your lack of connection in the community that is keeping them from attempting the situation. It could also be his age as they don't know him enough to know if he may be more mature than the average 14 year old boy. I'd encourage him to volunteer at community events and get to know your neighbors. If he's serious about a babysitting business (as you imply he is), he has to do what all entrepreneurs do and get his name and reputation out there.

There will be the "no boys as babysitters" naysayers but there's nothing you can do about that. It's funny, we are all encouraged to view girls as able to do anything but boys are very quickly categorized as being only one thing and that is usually something negative.

Anonymous wrote:What’s he going to do without a car if the kids need to be rushed to a hospital?

I don’t know maybe call 911 and let the emts and paramedics transport them. So many of these backwards sexist attitudes surprise me. The ones who were molested, but causation does not equal coorelation.

I’ve used male and female babysitters for my kids. Without question my girls prefer the males. They don’t sit on their phone. They actually engage in play and hide and seek and rough house. Zero sexual context. The boys have consistently left the house as they found it.

I find 14-15 year olds are in that sweet spot looking to earn extra money they cannot get working in other jobs. After 16, for both males and females who are driving, their outside work and social calendars take away from their time to babysit. Not everyone, of course but in general this happens.

Using a male babysitter is no more weird than a female doctor or male nurse or female pilot.

The labels that bandy about are pretty hurtful and not at all the norm. Since abuse happens statistically more often from someone known, I hope you sexist posters never let your husbands or uncles or male relatives alone with your kids ever!

Anonymous wrote:What’s he going to do without a car if the kids need to be rushed to a hospital?

I mean, what will most babysitters do? A lot of even old sitters don’t drive.

What’s he going to do without a car if the kids need to be rushed to a hospital?