Should teens have jobs?

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  Posted by allee Mon Jun 30, 2008 7:03am PDT

  I had jobs as a kid, started with a paper route during the summer. Age 10-12. Then moved to helping out parent on weekends when extra help was needed on weekends usually. But could also work 8-12 hr days, easily.

  At 17 started working full time.

  Now my kids age 14, mow the lawn, and other chores. Get an allowance. But do not have an official need a work permit like i did , job...

  They have some after school activities during the yr. During the summer they should have a kid life.

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  Posted by Nini Poo Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:48am PDT

  Being an adult who always had a job from age 12- current, I can't emphasize enough that children should have jobs!! Age 12-16 meant watching the kids down the street on the weekends and doing the laundry for the parents when things got hectic around the house. At age 16, I became a waitress and I can't stress to everyone how important that job was!!! During the school year, I worked a few days a week after work and during the summer, I worked almost full time during the day.

  When in college, I worked as a waitress in a more expensive restaurant then moved on to more professional, office environment-type jobs. I'm now an Executive Assistant to the VP in a Marketing company and I thank the experience from my waitressing jobs every day.

  In my first jobs, I learned patience, customer-service skills, money responsibilities, adult interaction, multi-tasking. I matured and grew and became an adult through my work history.

  Working gives you something that just school will not. My sister has three kids (14, 12, and 6). She has put her foot down about her kids not working until they are out of college. She thinks their focus should be on school and school only. WTF!!?? I can't even to begin to understand why she thinks that. Those kids are going to get out of college, apply for all sorts of jobs and they'll get no where. Potential employers will want seasoned, experienced people to add to their workforce-- not unskilled, inexperienced, spoiled brats that never had to worry about anything in their life other than getting good grades.

  My advise-- kids should work!

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  Posted by Miss D Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:15am PDT

  It may sound like were stealing their youth but I got to agree, have them work. Life is not easy, anything you can do to help your family or yourself, do it. Just charge it to experience. I worked my ass off since teenage years. Been a saleslady, promo girl and promodizer. Now I work in a corporate world, looking back...it was hard but I learned.

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  Posted by TORRESJ Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:16am PDT

  im 17 and last year during the summer i got my first job at dunkin donuts/baskin robins. i kinda liked working there couse i got to socilize with co workers and stuff.the money wasnt much but it felt good having somthing i could spend on what i wanted and saying i earned it.summer ended and i decided i would try to go to school and still work part time.in the end there was way too much pressure keeping up with both the school work and the work responsibilities. in the end i quit but i felt that i learned some things that will help me out.

  this year im spending the sommer working towards a car working with my dad in construction and trust me this is hard work.i think i understand the meaning of a doller and i respect my dad a whole much for what he goes through every day.

  i think that having a summer job is a all around great experence and you should support your kids to have one but when summer ends i think its best not to have a job unless is necessary to have one.

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  Posted by not yet expecting Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:32am PDT

  I also think teens should work. At 16 I was debating whether or not to, what job to apply for. The following summer I started my first job as a cashier at a department store, then moved onto CSR (customer service). In my 2 years there I trained 5 new associates for cashiering positions, some of whom later took on CSR as well. After my 2 years there, I left the job to focus full time on college and lived with my parents, taking 2 buses each way, taking mostly morning classes, so that I could save time & money by not commuting or living on campus. I didn't make that much from cashiering/CSR and really did not need to spend it on anything, I kept it in a checking account, and got a job as an admin for a small business close to home where scheduling was more flexible so I could work there evenings and weekends around classes. At these jobs I learned many people, communication, service and other skills that school alone would just reiterate or only introduce and imply that you learn best by doing, that is, working. So I think teens should work. Not necessarily paid work, but any work- babysitting, waitress/food service, store jobs, movie theater jobs, helping on the farm, household chores, or even volunteering. It's up to the teen to choose what s/he wants to try first and see if s/he likes it/is good at it, see what that leads to- an attraction to or repulsion from a related field that uses those skills/abilities, etc. I feel kids shouldn't be forced to work a certain job if they have a choice, but in this economy, if they can't get the job they want to begin with, helping out at home is just as valuable- my parents made me dust all the rooms upstairs and the stair railings every 2 weeks while they vacuumed and did laundry, and even though I never liked doing it, I can, and furthermore, I know I have to regularly, like it or not. Also, work during the schoolyear helps with time management, even if the kid is in other activities. Work during the summer helps kids earn (and hopefully save) money as well as experience with different people- ages, personalities- and types of work. For instance, tutoring peers before/after school, even in the summer, will provide insight into the teaching profession, after school sports will do the same for a possible pro sports career or consider coaching, or even a healthier lifestyle, etc. The opportunities out there are endless, even if that means unpaid work. I think that employers, when they see that a new grad has worked somewhere as a student, will not care if it was paid or not but rather ask the candidate what they learned/took away from their jobs. I've been asked that. The answer to that can make or break a job offer! As for how many hours, I'd say 20-25/week during school year, and as many as 50/week is fine in the summer, including weekends, if scheduling allows.

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  Posted by Hunibunni Mon Jun 30, 2008 11:03am PDT

  I agree with nini. I had a baby-sitting job when I was 13, then I started working at the local ice-cream shop when I was 15.5, which was the youngest you could legally work in the state of Ohio. I had to be g my mom to let me work that young, but it was a great opportunity for me. I stayed at the ice-cream shop for over 3 years until I graduated high school, and I became a daytime manager in the summer in the process. I learned lessons that cannot be taught in school, and I learned that you can achieve raises/promotions if you apply yourself. In high school, not only did I work, but I played volleyball year round, softball in the spring and summer, took college classes at the local community college, and maintained my 3.85 GPA. It can be done, and I learned a lot about time management, which benefitted me in college where I was on my own and had to financially support myself for most of the years. Working is a means for people to understand responsibility, and then also to be rewarded for the time and effort that they put into the job.

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  Posted by Jane Becker Mon Jun 30, 2008 11:15am PDT

  Oh, yeah, they should work while the parents go off to Costa Rica:

  http://thedamedomain.blogspot.com/2008/06/finding-perfect-summer-job-for-your.html

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  Posted by beautykween Mon Jun 30, 2008 11:49am PDT

  i'm 23 and have been working since I was 16 (even earlier if you count babysitting around the neighborhood). i'm glad my parents encouraged me to begin working as a teenager, because it gave me an extra feeling of accomplishment when my paychecks came in. although i wasn't making a huge amount of money, i was able to afford to go out with friends and buy things for myself, without having to rely on my parents. i worked all the way through college, and like someone mentioned above, was able to pay for things like books and lab fees. also, having jobs through college (while maintaining a great GPA) looks great on my resume!

  i have friends who had the "luxury" of not working until they graduated college, and so many of them are clueless in the real world. i'm thankful that i worked hard at my jobs when i was younger, as i really believe they prepared me for my "big-girl job"!

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  Posted by mrscolbert Mon Jun 30, 2008 12:58pm PDT

  For some teenagers, minimum wage is hardly enough money to justify the gas to go back and forth to that job, if there are no jobs within a short distance of the home and there is no public transit.

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  Posted by not yet expecting Mon Jun 30, 2008 1:12pm PDT

  mrscolbert:

  I see your point but if there's a job for a teen not too far away from either home or school that doesn't pay too much, but the teen still needs/wants $$, the teen should consider biking, rollerblading, skateboarding or even walking to and from it. That uses no gas at all and gets some exercise in there too!

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