Does your teenager work?

[Mermaid02]

My dd turned 16 in December and got her first pt job in March. She is the ONLY one of her friends who works. Furthermore, none of them even seem to want a job. What's up with that? When I was a teenager 20 some years ago, most of my friends had jobs.

Does your teenager work?

Started at what age?

What kind of job?

My dd got her first job at 16 and works in a Quizno's Sub shop.

 

[drgnfly30]

DS16 started putting in applications after we got back from WDW in June.. not one call back... over 1/2 the places said they wouldn't be hiring the Fall-Christmas season... Guess I should have gotten him out there BEFORE school ended but I didn't want our trip to interfere.

Alot of his friends have jobs, mostly at the grocery store - he could probably get in there too but has no desire to work there after hearing the 'horror' stories... He's going to apply at the movie theater when we go to see POTC this weekend (My idea when I heard employees get free passes)

 

[crazyme5kids]

My older daughter started working at 14 and my older son was about 14 and a half. Both started at McDonald's. My son still works there he'll be 18 in Nov. They work around his school and cross country/track obligations. Some of their friends work some don't.

My middle son is turning 14 at the end of July, but I honestly don't think he'll be ready to handle a job yet. We'll see how much he matures this summer and maybe over the winter we'll let him get a job.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Mine is 15 so can't work yet...She is waiting. She wanted to work at Border's but you have to be 18.
So next summer she can work! She can't wait.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

I don't have a teenager yet, but I work with them. I don't see that at all. All of their friends work, and if they have a friend that doesn't work, they try to get them a job at our store. But, there are only so many hours that need to be filled.

ALL of the kids that work with me started at the age of 16. Some of them are 17 now, the store has been open for a year and a half. So, no, I don't see a trend of lazy teenagers. I am actually amazed it is quite opposite. Some of these kids work TWO jobs, and one girl worked 3 jobs and played HS sports.

 

[Beachbum3]

My daughter turned 16 this past Feb and works in the summer. She works at a bakery/deli type store. She started working there at 14. We live in a seasonal beach town so there is plenty of jobs for the kids so most of her friends do work. She loves getting that paycheck for spending money and has saved a lot of money too.

 

[snowwite]

My 14 yr old is trying to get a paper route and my DD has applied everywhere. They all want people w/experience but how are you supposed to get any if no one will hire you? She is going to be working w/e for a kids entertainment/party co and is trying to get a job waitresssing. The place offered under the table posistion and I said no way.

 

[ducklite]

Our son worked the summer he turned 15 in a warehouse--pulling orders, testing equipment, sweeping the floor--and went back again the following summer and a couple of school breaks as well.

The next job was at a pizza place, he worked over the following summer and a month or two into the school year, but he left in October, he didn't really like it and I had no problem with him not working when school was in session.

After he graduated he got a job as a bagger/porter at a grocery store--TERRIBLE place to work. He lasted about three months before he got fired. Swore he'd never work for a grocery store again!

Shortly after we moved to Florida, he got a job at Publix (another grocery store) but this time in the meat department where he's training to be a butcher, and he LOVES it!

Anne

 

[transparant]

Both of my older w boys work. They are 15 & 16. THey work for my husbands company installing carpet in residential homes and businesses.

 

[Christine]

My DD is 15 and would like a job, but cannot get one. She definitely won't be able to work until she gets her driver's license because I work full-time and probably couldn't get her where she needs to be.

I sort of undecided on the teen working thing. I've read two schools of thought on it. One, the old school, that it's good to get out, start working, and earning your own money, and being responsible. The second, new school of thought, is that many teenagers are out getting jobs and not being responsible with what they earn, i.e., the job is supporting the materialistic attitude that many teenagers have seem to have acquired (Abercrombie clothes, gadgets, etc.). Unfortunately, I can see my DD trying to do this with *her* money, so the jury is out on what I will let her do. Also, her grades will have to be very good. I don't see how she could work, go to school full-time, do her drama stuff, and hold down a job and keep it all up. I know some kids can--I know that mine could not.

Anyway, around here, they really don't want to talk to you until you're about 18 unless it is for lifeguarding or working at the seasonal ice cream shop.

 

[luvflorida]

My dd turned 16 in December and got her first pt job in March. She is the ONLY one of her friends who works.

It's the opposite around here. My daughter is 15, almost 16, and it seems as if she is the only one who DOESN'T work. I really didn't want her getting a job this summer and she was fine with that.

 

[crazyme5kids]

My kids knew/know that if they want a car they need to save for it. My kids really have a pretty good work ethic though.

Last summer my husband took my son out on the road for two weeks and threw him on the catering crew. My husband did not tell the caterer that it he was his son. My son had to make or break it on his own. He worked his butt off and the caterer wanted him to go on the rest of the summer tour. He declined because he had his job at home and would be going away to running camp for a week.

The caterer was surprised when he finally found out that he was the bosses son. He told my husband that he was one of the hardest workers he's ever had. Made for a proud papa moment .

 

[dustysky]

My son is 14 and WANTS to work very bad, I think it says great things about him that he WANTS to earn his own money and buy his own stuff.
Saddly no one hires at 14 here, he has a few friends who have jobs "handed" to them by family but other then that they are all still to young to be hired.

 

[crazyme5kids]

Around here the only places that hire 14 year olds are fast food (McDonald's etc..), bagel shops and a few pizza places. It's sad though, I think it helps to give kids a real sense of accomplishment to work, even if it is only a few hours a week. It's too bad more places won't give teens more opportunities to get that first job.

 

[HOGFAN]

OH YES, since she was 16. Of course, once she realized we were not going to give into her every whim, she figured she had better earn some of her own money. Most of her friends didnt work either, we live in a fairly affluent part of town where most of the kids are spoiled rotten. dh and I refused to give into it. We believe she is learning a little self reliance. We are not paying all of her college either.

 

[Saphire]

My oldest son started work when he was 11 as a caddy at a golf course, then got a paper route for a few years, then at 15 got a job at a local specialty food store. My second son had a paper route at 14, then at 16 got a job at a local theatre. My DD is currently 16 and has worked for six months. She is a companion/chaperone to mentally challenged kids and goes with them to activites like bowling, golfing, restaurants, etc. (Along with older chaperones of course).
All these jobs have been somewhat difficult to get...the jobs have definitely not come to them, they had to go seek them out. I would say that around here more kids don't work at 16 than do. But it has always been important in our house, they need to start early learning the reponsibilities of juggling work and school and finances.

 

[Mermaid02]

HogFan- I think that is the case here too. We live in a very nice upper middle class neighborhood (many neighboring families could easily afford to live in the upper class areas of the city) and dd's friends are all pretty well to do (at least their parents are). One girl's family spent April vacation in Ireland staying in a castle and when she got back I said, "So, how was it??" to which she said (in bored blase kinda voice) "Oh, it was okay." Don't appreciate much do they?

I'm really proud of dd for taking the initiative and getting a job as soon as she was old enough to apply for one. I think a little responsibility might do some of these other kids wonders too.

 

[MushyMushy]

I sort of undecided on the teen working thing. I've read two schools of thought on it. One, the old school, that it's good to get out, start working, and earning your own money, and being responsible. The second, new school of thought, is that many teenagers are out getting jobs and not being responsible with what they earn, i.e., the job is supporting the materialistic attitude that many teenagers have seem to have acquired (Abercrombie clothes, gadgets, etc.). Unfortunately, I can see my DD trying to do this with *her* money, so the jury is out on what I will let her do. Also, her grades will have to be very good. I don't see how she could work, go to school full-time, do her drama stuff, and hold down a job and keep it all up. I know some kids can--I know that mine could not.

I've heard arguments like that as well, and I'm also undecided. I was talking to a counselor once who thought it was bad to let teens work, and for some of them it put them around older people who might be a bad influence on them. I could see that happening with my son.

IMO, working as a teen is a privilege, not a right. My DS is going to have to bring up his grades drastically before I'll even consider letting him take a job. Right now he gets an allowance and has the ability to earn money through mowing grass, and he blows the money the day he gets it (haven't been able to prove it yet, but I'm sure he's smoking it). I think it would be dangerous for him to have more access to money than that.

My parents never let my sister or I have a job when we were teens! My mom would never say why, but I've come to believe that she just didn't want us to have that responsibility. When she was a teen, she had to work HARD to help support the family, so she didn't have a lot of free time when she was a kid. I think that really colored her view of working. As a result, my sister and I had a really hard time developing a good work ethic. We DID, but it was just hard.

 

[Mermaid02]

I've heard arguments like that as well, and I'm also undecided. I was talking to a counselor once who thought it was bad to let teens work, and for some of them it put them around older people who might be a bad influence on them. I could see that happening with my son.

IMO, working as a teen is a privilege, not a right. My DS is going to have to bring up his grades drastically before I'll even consider letting him take a job. Right now he gets an allowance and has the ability to earn money through mowing grass, and he blows the money the day he gets it (haven't been able to prove it yet, but I'm sure he's smoking it). I think it would be dangerous for him to have more access to money than that.

My parents never let my sister or I have a job when we were teens! My mom would never say why, but I've come to believe that she just didn't want us to have that responsibility. When she was a teen, she had to work HARD to help support the family, so she didn't have a lot of free time when she was a kid. I think that really colored her view of working. As a result, my sister and I had a really hard time developing a good work ethic. We DID, but it was just hard.

Good point about the grades! School comes first! I have told my dd that if her grades slip, she will have to quit.

I also want to point out that she volunteers summers at our local hospital too. This is all by her choice and I'm thrilled! She still has time to have fun- but is also being responsible and giving to those less fortunate. I think it's important to teach teens these days that life isn't always about "fun" or "me me me"

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

My DD is 14. She babysits for a few of our neighbors.