Should teens have jobs?

So, we've talked about how tough it is for teens to find jobs this summer, but beneath that dilemma is the underlying question: Should teens work? I'm not sure when that became a question since it is clearly a query posed among families with the means to make it debatable. But as teens get more involved in school activities, AP classes, and volunteer work as they prepare for college, fitting a part time job into the mix gets challenging.

You can rationalize work away for teens easily because they can get plenty busy with school and activities. But I am a big believer in the need for teens to do some paid work for several reasons, and they're not all about money. Sure, top of the list of reasons is the ability to earn money and manage money by deciding how much to keep for spending (and what to spend it on), and how much to save for educational or other goals. But by working in a variety of jobs, teens are exposed to all kinds of people, managers, and working conditions.

In high school, I worked at a food store, and learned quickly how to get along with people who were nasty, angry, or just plain not having a good day. I learned how hard it is to stand on your feet for several hours at a clip, and what it's like to not be able to take a break whenever you feel like it. I also was able to save up enough money to pay for books and expenses when I got to college. At a time when kids are already crafting resumes and thinking about how certain experiences will give them an edge in the college-application craziness, I still think working in a service-industry job is important training for just about anything in life.

Like all good things in life, the answer to the teen-work question is not yes or no but moderation. Thomas Hine, the author of "The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager," tells Caroline Wilbert on Divine Caroline that some work is good but too much is not. He also recommends that parents be involved in helping teens budget their money so they save for future goals. But he agrees it's important for teens to learn how to work with all kinds of people, though he thinks it's better if they work with more adults instead of working around a bunch of teenagers in a fast-food joint or the like. “One of the good things that work does is it gives you an opportunity to work in an arena that is not school, to be responsible, to be depended on, to be judged,” Hine said.

To build a good work ethic, kids have to actually work, be it doing chores at home, or volunteering steadily for an organization in the community, or working a paid job. A survey of managers by SnagAJob.com found that 56 percent of them agree with the statement, "today's youth do not have the same work ethic as previous generations have had."

If you've gotten past the point of debating whether teens should work and want to figure out how to make it fit well in their lives, here are some guidelines from the Child Labor Coalition:

Under 14

• no work -- concentrate on school, family, and other activities.

14- and 15-year-olds

• summer employment: no more than 6 hours per day; 30 hours per week.
  
• employment during the school year: no more than 3 hours per day; 15 hours per week.

16- and 17-year-olds

• summer employment: no more than 8 hours per day; 40 hours per week.
  
• employment during the school year: no more than 4 hours per day; 20 hours per week.

So let's hear it. Where do you stand on teens and jobs? Should they work, and what kinds of jobs offer the best kind of experience? And how many hours are too many hours to work?