Does your teen work?

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-28-2007
Does your teen work?
32
Sun, 11-25-2007 - 9:43pm
I'm new to teenage years so I was wondering if your teen works.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-25-2006
Sun, 11-25-2007 - 9:59pm

DS24 started working at age 16--first in a grocery store (lasted only 2 weeks) and then in and ice cream store through the end of HS. He is our socializer. He also worked in the cafeteria in college, and summers in his field (civil eng.) after soph and junior years. DS18 worked since age 14(?) as a soccer referree but his hours were limited. This last summer before college he could not find a job, nor did he try too hard, but he did a little volunteer work. Next semester he'll get either an internship type job in pharmacy (volunteer)or, if that's not available, then a job in the cafeteria in his dorm.

It is so true that times have changed. I was always afraid of pushing our boys too hard cuz extracurricular activities are a lot more important now when applying to colleges than they were when I was in college. Sports are also a lot bigger. I began working at age 14, cleaning house for one woman and babysitting occasionally; and at 16 worked in dietary in a hospital until I finished HS. I tell my kids how I walked to work, not because I had to (my dad would have lent me the car) but because I enjoyed the one-mile walk. My guys would never walk ANYWHERE; asked for rides to friends homes just a few blocks away.

DH grew up in India and never worked until he was a T.A. when working on his masters. Now he's a workaholic! So I guess a good work ethic can be developed at any age.

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http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/meet_the_new_health_.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQTBYQlQ7yM

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-29-2004
Sun, 11-25-2007 - 10:22pm


Well, my kids don't work during the school year. They both have too much homework. And both DH & I feel that school comes first. I didn't work during the school year either. It is either work & have to pay for university. Or don't work & concentrate on getting high marks & go thru university on scholarships & bursaries. That's what I did. It also meant that I had the marks to get into grad school and to get research-oriented summer jobs.

In the summer, they do...if they can find a job. That is easier said than done.

Avatar for mjaye2002
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Sun, 11-25-2007 - 11:27pm

My teens work(ed) during the summers, and will sometimes grab an odd-job here and there on weekends during school (but not often!)

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-19-2003
Mon, 11-26-2007 - 7:01am

I too worked as a teen.

Avatar for suzyk2118
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-30-1997
Mon, 11-26-2007 - 8:03am

DS15 did work full time for 3 weeks of last summer; volunteering as a 'teen intern' at our local craft place (clay, glass, etc.) helping younger kids; he then got tuition to 2 teen classes free (they're hundreds of dollars). In January he'll start volunteering at the Y helping at the pool, gearing up to be a lifeguard (not permitted til 16). He'll teach little kids and be 'eyes on deck'. He'll likely take summer school again this summer (6 weeks is a year's worth of school for one class) so he'll be limited in how much work he can do, but he may work on Saturdays at the Y. During the year, we have not requested that he works, but we are requesting that he does the couple hours of volunteering each Saturday come January (now that swim season is over).

Sue

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-28-2007
Mon, 11-26-2007 - 9:33am

Thanks for your response.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-25-2002
Mon, 11-26-2007 - 10:18am

My son started working at 15...it's a good thing for all of us...DD-14 went to every place in our little town and applied for work..hoping to make some cash for the holidays. A lot of the small businesses are suffering and she had no luck. I hope the economy turns around, and fast. Ugh.


 

Avatar for heartsandroses2002
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 11-26-2007 - 11:08am

I don't want to try to make my kids live up to standards of another generation


I don't think the lessons of hard work and determination, plus learning to be responsible TO someone as well as ourselves is something that any generation can live without.


Personally, I believe that having a PT job for as little as 10 hours/week is beneficial for every kid beginning as early as 13/14. They can do pet sitting, yard cleanup, raking leaves, shoveling snow, watering gardens, etc., when they are this young. Eventually, they can work at a local farm or garden center and eventually get a job at a retail store or office.


Both of my dds' got jobs when they were 15. It did not impact their schoolwork negatively in any way. In fact, I think learning how to manage their time helped them a great deal in the long run. Plus, they learned the value of earning their own money and spending it wisely (or not), saving for a car, and paying for a portion of their car insurance when the time came.


Don't get me wrong, education is very important and if I thought for one moment that a job was interferring with school, I would have made my dds' quit their jobs. However, not everyone is meant to have an academic career and let's face it, without a job, you don't make money and without money, you don't have independence and without independence, you live in the street and starve because you can't live with mommy and daddy forever!


Sorry to be so blunt but I sometimes don't understand our generation of parents who refuse their kids a little hardship in order to grow from it. As my H always says when I grumble about going to work: "Well, honey, we gotta eat!" LOL

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-01-2007
Mon, 11-26-2007 - 11:40am

Chris

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-28-1999
Mon, 11-26-2007 - 11:50am

My DD started working the summer after she turned 16.

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