How do they do it?

[MrsPete]

I was reading the thread on when you have your kids start paying their own car insurance and some people were saying as soon as they got their license.

I'm wondering how a high school kid who is in school can work enough hours making minimum wage to earn enough to pay for a car, car insurance, and gasoline like some parents ask them to do. On top of that, how do they have time to do homework and study? I guess extracurriculars are out? Do colleges these days put a fair amount of weight on extracurriculars when considering a college application?

Do these kids ever sleep?

As a high school teacher, I can tell you that a whole lot of kids put school on the back burner once they turn 16 and want to drive. Choices I see over and over:

- Kids drop back from Honors level to General level so they don't have to work so hard in school. A smart kid in a General level class won't have much homework or studying. Many kids no longer shoot for the A, but decide that a C is okay. Kids also opt to take fewer classes, which means they're missing out on the chance to try their hand at pottery or Electrical trades, which can be excellent life experiences. Typically juniors and seniors miss more days of school than do freshmen and sophomores -- and sometimes that is because they're working late the night before. In general, kids who work lots of hours are just less invested in high school.
- Kids drop extra activities; for example, our high school band is made up almost exclusively of freshmen and sophomores. Most juniors and seniors drop this type of activity, which requires a great deal of time.

As for colleges and extra-activities, if you're talking about a typical college -- not a very prestigious school -- extras neither help nor hurt with admission. But extras make all the difference in scholarships.

I do see students who work part-time jobs AND remain full entrenched in high school. A perfect teen job would 1) be fewer than 12-15 hours a week. 2) would require no late night hours. 3) would provide some help for the future; for example, working part-time at the vet is better than flipping burgers. However, few kids find such ideal jobs. Overall, I see more kids who are hurt by part time jobs than are helped.

 

[MrsPete]

We have hung onto an older model car we probably should sell just for the purpose of insuring one of our teen boys. If they have good grades and avoid tickets/accidents, the cost can be minimal. I think the 19 year old added only $22/month to the premium because we have liability only on that car.

Maybe that's part of the reason your dad gave you an older model car......

We've done the same thing. It's a big, old clunker that can't pass the gas station without having a stiff drink, but it's safe and expendable. I just paid the insurance FOR A YEAR for my 17-year old, and it was just under $300.

We require her to pay her own gas out of her allowance, but her JOB is going to school and preparing herself for college. Her sister received scholarships equaling about 60% of her college education. She also spent many hours in career exploration during high school and entered college SURE of what she wanted to do. If our youngest does half as well in this dried-up-scholarship climate, I'll be satisfied. More satisfied than if she had spent hours working but walked away from high school with just a diploma.

 

[mom2rtk]

As a high school teacher, I can tell you that a whole lot of kids put school on the back burner once they turn 16 and want to drive. Choices I see over and over:

- Kids drop back from Honors level to General level so they don't have to work so hard in school. A smart kid in a General level class won't have much homework or studying. Many kids no longer shoot for the A, but decide that a C is okay. Kids also opt to take fewer classes, which means they're missing out on the chance to try their hand at pottery or Electrical trades, which can be excellent life experiences. Typically juniors and seniors miss more days of school than do freshmen and sophomores -- and sometimes that is because they're working late the night before. In general, kids who work lots of hours are just less invested in high school.
- Kids drop extra activities; for example, our high school band is made up almost exclusively of freshmen and sophomores. Most juniors and seniors drop this type of activity, which requires a great deal of time.

As for colleges and extra-activities, if you're talking about a typical college -- not a very prestigious school -- extras neither help nor hurt with admission. But extras make all the difference in scholarships.

I do see students who work part-time jobs AND remain full entrenched in high school. A perfect teen job would 1) be fewer than 12-15 hours a week. 2) would require no late night hours. 3) would provide some help for the future; for example, working part-time at the vet is better than flipping burgers. However, few kids find such ideal jobs. Overall, I see more kids who are hurt by part time jobs than are helped.

We see a lot of kids around here actually put their school activities on hold to start helping out with household expenses once they turn 16. It's very sad. Some of these kids had tons of promise. But it's an older blue collar area and I have been just shocked at the lack of educational imperative. Even for kids I know could handle the work.

So we never pushed ours to work in high school. I actually thought we'd push really hard in college, but with one getting a 150 hour accounting degree in 4 years and the other studying engineering with lots of technical classes, we've backed off on that too.

 

[Sadie22]

As a high school teacher, I can tell you that a whole lot of kids put school on the back burner once they turn 16 and want to drive. Choices I see over and over:

- Kids drop back from Honors level to General level so they don't have to work so hard in school. A smart kid in a General level class won't have much homework or studying. Many kids no longer shoot for the A, but decide that a C is okay. Kids also opt to take fewer classes, which means they're missing out on the chance to try their hand at pottery or Electrical trades, which can be excellent life experiences. Typically juniors and seniors miss more days of school than do freshmen and sophomores -- and sometimes that is because they're working late the night before. In general, kids who work lots of hours are just less invested in high school.
- Kids drop extra activities; for example, our high school band is made up almost exclusively of freshmen and sophomores. Most juniors and seniors drop this type of activity, which requires a great deal of time.

As for colleges and extra-activities, if you're talking about a typical college -- not a very prestigious school -- extras neither help nor hurt with admission. But extras make all the difference in scholarships.

I do see students who work part-time jobs AND remain full entrenched in high school. A perfect teen job would 1) be fewer than 12-15 hours a week. 2) would require no late night hours. 3) would provide some help for the future; for example, working part-time at the vet is better than flipping burgers. However, few kids find such ideal jobs. Overall, I see more kids who are hurt by part time jobs than are helped.

I'm not a teacher but this is what I have seen time and time again. It's good to have my opinion affirmed by a teacher.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

As a high school teacher, I can tell you that a whole lot of kids put school on the back burner once they turn 16 and want to drive. Choices I see over and over:

- Kids drop back from Honors level to General level so they don't have to work so hard in school. A smart kid in a General level class won't have much homework or studying. Many kids no longer shoot for the A, but decide that a C is okay. Kids also opt to take fewer classes, which means they're missing out on the chance to try their hand at pottery or Electrical trades, which can be excellent life experiences. Typically juniors and seniors miss more days of school than do freshmen and sophomores -- and sometimes that is because they're working late the night before. In general, kids who work lots of hours are just less invested in high school.
- Kids drop extra activities; for example, our high school band is made up almost exclusively of freshmen and sophomores. Most juniors and seniors drop this type of activity, which requires a great deal of time.

As for colleges and extra-activities, if you're talking about a typical college -- not a very prestigious school -- extras neither help nor hurt with admission. But extras make all the difference in scholarships.

I do see students who work part-time jobs AND remain full entrenched in high school. A perfect teen job would 1) be fewer than 12-15 hours a week. 2) would require no late night hours. 3) would provide some help for the future; for example, working part-time at the vet is better than flipping burgers. However, few kids find such ideal jobs. Overall, I see more kids who are hurt by part time jobs than are helped.

Is it really the job that's to blame or rebellion? Or, maybe some other issue? Having underclassmen making up nearly the entire band is a pretty extreme scenario & not at all the norm around here.

Personally, I've seen new friends and/or Boy/Girlfriends wreck more kids' grades than jobs.

 

[Southernmiss]

I was reading the thread on when you have your kids start paying their own car insurance and some people were saying as soon as they got their license.

I'm wondering how a high school kid who is in school can work enough hours making minimum wage to earn enough to pay for a car, car insurance, and gasoline like some parents ask them to do. On top of that, how do they have time to do homework and study? I guess extracurriculars are out? Do colleges these days put a fair amount of weight on extracurriculars when considering a college application?

Do these kids ever sleep?

In our home, our kids start refereeing soccer at age 12. Most of what they earn, they bank.

We gave oldest ds a good running car with almost 200,000 miles on it. He didn't put oil in it and ruined it. He went without a car for a while. He worked summer refereeing soccer and as a lifeguard. He bought a $2000 car. The next summer, he rear ended someone and totaled it. Arghh!! He saved up $4000 and bought his current truck. We pay his insurance. And put a new transmission in it at Christmas. He gets excellent grades and is maintaining a full college scholarship.

Honestly, he couldn't afford to maintain the gas, upkeep and insurance with his extracurricular schedule and school load without our help, which we are glad to do.

I truly feel like we are helping him to be in a good place after college. He's working at a firm now as a college junior that can become a great after college employer in his field.

 

[wenrob]

Is it really the job that's to blame or rebellion? Or, maybe some other issue? Having underclassmen making up nearly the entire band is a pretty extreme scenario & not at all the norm around here.

Personally, I've seen new friends and/or Boy/Girlfriends wreck more kids' grades than jobs.

I tend to agree. Some kids just "check out" in their Senior Year, they're just done.

 

[aprilgail2]

I was reading the thread on when you have your kids start paying their own car insurance and some people were saying as soon as they got their license.

I'm wondering how a high school kid who is in school can work enough hours making minimum wage to earn enough to pay for a car, car insurance, and gasoline like some parents ask them to do. On top of that, how do they have time to do homework and study? I guess extracurriculars are out? Do colleges these days put a fair amount of weight on extracurriculars when considering a college application?

Do these kids ever sleep?

Most people I know buy a car for their kids, the kids don't pay for it. My daughter is only 14 but she has a car sitting here waiting until she can drive it. I got a new one and kept the old one for her for when she is ready. Lots of kids parents buy them new cars which I think is nuts but to each their own. The kid across the street got a brand new Mustang and my friends daughter got a 2 year old jeep. I know the kid across the street doesn't work, she is very involved with sports in school and clubs.

 

[TinkerBelled]

I don't have kids, so like a PP, I can only speak to my own situation. I got an ancient car as a present for my 17th birthday from my grandparents. It had almost 200k miles on it and was 12 years old, but it worked well for going around the town and I loved it. My parents paid the insurance, repairs, gas, etc. For them, it was worth it not to have to drive me places/pick me up from activities. I also helped out with pick-up/drop-off for siblings, pet trips to the vet, etc. As they both worked, having another driver in the house was well worth the insurance cost.

I can categorically state that I couldn't have worked enough to pay for these things while maintaining my extracurricular and academic schedule. I could have done any combination of two, but not all three (worked/school, worked/activities, school/activities).

 

[Bamagirl43]

My parents paid my insurance until I was out of the house and on my own and we pay for our kids insurance...oh and their cars. Yes they are spoiled....but we have a heck of a lot more money than they do so it's not a big deal.

Not spoiled. My DD15 has a 4.3 GPA, takes the most difficult classes offered and most important, she is a good child. We will buy the car and the insurance. It won't be new, but it will be something she is proud of and it will take her through college. We're glad to be able to do this for her.

 

[pls5286]

Our deal is you help out at home...especially for the summer...make good grades we will pay for some gas and insurance. My SO and I each have a 17 yo who live with us. My son helped my dad with lots of farm work, in the chicken houses and in the hayfield. His son is spending a nice leisurely summer, we have difficulty getting him to load the dishwasher. Both boys have their own vehicle.

My son is out on a date tonight with money he earned etc. His son is here, hanging out with us. He had the same opportunity to work etc in addition to other options here when my son was gone. His car sits empty on gas.

During the school year we pay for gas and insurance back and forth to school. If they want "extra fuel" for dating..which usually equals a 30 min drive, they do extra chores or cut grass etc.

 

[kkmcan]

We just bought our dd17 a used car and got her and her car insured. We used to pay $119 a month for dh and I, 2 cars. Our monthly premium went to over $300 when we added the 3rd car and dd. We need to get some quotes for new insurance. I think we are paying way too much.

We were thinking of charging her $100 a month for her insurance and she could pay for gas when she has the money. Right now since its summer she make about $500 a month but once school starts she works one day a week and she'll get about $44 a paycheck ($88 a month). She wont be able to pay us $100 a month. So we haven't figured out how to do this yet.

I will add that dd took a job (at the nearby movie theater) because she wasn't involved in sports or clubs or band or anything afterschool. She did cheer one year and decided it wasn't for her. Rather than sitting at home doing nothing in her room on the weekends and week nights, we encouraged her to find another way to be involved at school or get a job. She chose the job. She is involved in choir but that's during class mostly and Key club which is an occasional weekend event. We didn't force her to get a job. She wanted to. She gets good grades pretty easily so there isn't much time spent on studying. She had a lot of down time (like 4:30 pm until 10 pm every night and all weekend).

 

[mom2rtk]

We just bought our dd17 a used car and got her and her car insured. We used to pay $119 a month for dh and I, 2 cars. Our monthly premium went to over $300 when we added the 3rd car and dd. We need to get some quotes for new insurance. I think we are paying way too much.

We were thinking of charging her $100 a month for her insurance and she could pay for gas when she has the money. Right now since its summer she make about $500 a month but once school starts she works one day a week and she'll get about $44 a paycheck ($88 a month). She wont be able to pay us $100 a month. So we haven't figured out how to do this yet.

We actually called our insurance agent before shopping for cars with our kids. Certain models are more expensive to insure than others and it helped to know what the damage would be before buying.

If adding one used car for your DD made your insurance go up $180 a month, then I agree, that's really high and you need to shop around. Can I assume you asked about all the potential discounts like good student and safe driver? My kids had to do some sort of online course for part of their discount. And I submit their grades twice a year to keep the student discount.

 

[dennis99ss]

I also think there are regional differences, and even differences within the regions and cities within the regions. Probably more socio economic related, but, also educational/type A personality related and I believe folks in the same socio/economic and "type A personality" parents tend to congregate in the same areas of town, etc. As a result, I am more likely to be around people who buy cars for their children, than the other way around.

That being said, I see today's high school as a much more intense period than it was for me 30 years ago. My DS' go to school that is about 45-50 minutes away. We leave at 6am, they get there at 7am, school starts at 8 or so. School goes to 3:10 (I think), and sports are immediately after, but sometimes do not start for an hour to hour and half later. If there is a delay, they study. They leave school with me about 6pm or so, and get home at 7pm or so. Dinner, etc., and then study at 8pm. Homework runs about 2.5-3 hours per night, and a full day on the weekend. They are involved in scouts and are both eagles. Sports are year-round these days, so there is no "off season" even for single sport athletes. In the summer, they have sports, because there are summer programs that run 4 days a week. Summer camp or National adventure camps for scouts. There is usually a family trip in there. Older DS is in AP classes this coming year as a Junior and was in the same 4 advanced classes the last two years. Younger son is just starting his high school career and will have a similar load, and, did have sports over the summer, along with the camps, etc. They also play instruments, and try to do anything with the church, scouts, etc., that they can put on their resume that shows leadership. Today high school students are required to build their resumes for college. It is my job to make sure they have every opportunity to do that. It is their job to do that.

I don't think colleges care much about jobs. They do care about extra-curricular, athletics, activities that grow a person in other ways, etc. They care about grades, responsibility, test scores, leadership, and possibly internships.

I did work on the weekends when I was in high school, but, honestly I cannot in good conscience ask them to take a job, given the work load that they are under. I, like others, consider their school and extras as their "job".

With regard the vehicle, Insurance doubled when we put DS on, to about an extra 125. Of course we put him on all the vehicles, and our coverage levels are full, and have higher coverage limits than most I believe.

So, when we were facing him turning 16, I was in the process of getting him a Camaro ss, when DW looked over my shoulder in the study one morning and saw what I was doing with the dealership. Needless to say, that idea did not work because "I let" DW win that battle. So, DW got a Tahoe, DS has now inherited her hummer (which he says is "way cooler" than the Camaro). (In two years when DS #2 gets to 16, I'll try to win the battle again)

We don't expect him to pay for anything related to the vehicles, or cell phones, or ipods, etc. We do expect him to be responsible, and he understands this, and as long as he lives up to his side of the bargain, we will continue to do as we have.

So, that's my opus on the issue. Hope you didn't fall asleep before you finished it..lol

 

[sk!mom]

Mainly, he is very involved in after school activities, which I think are important. When I was his age, I went to school and worked. I wasn't invovled at all in any sports or after school activities. I feel like I missed out on a lot of fun high school memory making moments because all I did was school and work. So he does what he can to get himself some spending money on his own.

This!! I added the bolding because that was mine and my DH's experience. We worked nonstop in high school and paid for everything ourselves. We were not involved and did not make the grades that we were capable of due to heavy workloads. School just seemed to become secondary.

DD18 has been an excellent student and very involved in extracurricular ballet. She worked 3 hours a week this past school year as an assistant ballet teacher. She also did pet sitting from time to time to supplement her allowance.

We bought her car and paid all related expenses as well as gave her an allowance through high school. Starting this Summer and through college, we plan for her to cover all spending money and gas. No more allowance from mom and dad but we will continue to cover insurance and repairs that might come up.

 

[fortwildernessishome]

Our boys are now 21 and 18. We have always paid for insurance and gas. We never wanted them working while in school. They were both three sport athletes and in the band. They also played on travel baseball teams all summer, so didn't work in the summer either. It was far more important to us and them to play sports then it was to own their own personal car.

The way the high school sports work around here is that if you miss practice you sit on the bench for the next two games/ski race's. Pretty much all kids that work do not play sports or do any after school activities. The rare exceptions are the couple kids that are able to get a job that will totally work around their sports schedules, including when the coach throws in an extra practice with not much notice.

Our 18 year old just graduated, we have no regrets that they didn't work. They have their whole lives to work, but will never again be able to play high school sports!

Our 21 year old got a great engineering internship for the summer. He needed a car for travel, so we bought him a two year old car. We still pay for insurance, but for the first time ever he is paying for his gas.

Everyone needs to do what is good for them. What we did was the only choice for us.

 

[maslex]

I was reading the thread on when you have your kids start paying their own car insurance and some people were saying as soon as they got their license.

I'm wondering how a high school kid who is in school can work enough hours making minimum wage to earn enough to pay for a car, car insurance, and gasoline like some parents ask them to do. On top of that, how do they have time to do homework and study? I guess extracurriculars are out? Do colleges these days put a fair amount of weight on extracurriculars when considering a college application?

Do these kids ever sleep?

I was one of those people on the other thread who have their child pay their own car expenses.

My oldest is the only one right now who drives. He's been working a part time job (grocery store) for the past 2 1/2 years. He's always been a saver. That's how he bought his first car at the age 13 (even if it was only $200) He's saved everything from birthday money, Christmas money and whatever he earned cutting grass. Right now he works anywhere between 18-30 hours at the store. His check is directly deposited into his savings acct. He also has a checking account that he will transfer money over to if he wants to order anything online or use his debit card for something. He is NOT a spender what so ever (unless it's for his vehicles, then it's like a kid walking into a candy store) The other day he was complaining there was no food in the house (just after I went shopping by the way) So I told him that he had a job, he had a car, so he could go out and grab something to eat. He tells me he has no money....then tells me he "only" has $2642 in his acct.

He just graduated high school a few weeks ago. And even though the first couple of years were a bit dicey grade wise (not while he was working by the way) the last couple of years, things turned around in a big way and he graduated with an 91 average. So he was able to manage school/homework and his part time job pretty well. It might not be for every child, but it's not impossible for them to work for minimum wage at a part time job and afford paying his own way.

ETA: both of my boys each have a cell phone that they pay the monthly bill on too. My youngest has started a job a couple of months ago in a restaurant and the first thing he said he wanted was his own cell phone. We told him that fine but he had to save up for it and then pay his part of the bill each month. We actually started this WAY back when the were little. If they wanted something (of substantial money---video game, console, bike, whatever) and it wasn't their birthday or Christmas, we told them that we would pay for half and they were responsible for the other half. They've never had a problem with that. As they got older (pre-teen/early teen) we told them that if they wanted something they'd have to save for it. And they did. They've each bought their own flat screen TV's, gaming consoles, games, my oldest bought his own laptop, etc. Some people have told us that we were crazy. But the way I look at things....."this" is the way WE do things and "that" is the way YOU do things (talking general you) It doesn't mean that either one of us is right but it also doesn't mean that either one of us is wrong. It's whatever works for you family.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We actually called our insurance agent before shopping for cars with our kids. Certain models are more expensive to insure than others and it helped to know what the damage would be before buying.

If adding one used car for your DD made your insurance go up $180 a month, then I agree, that's really high and you need to shop around. Can I assume you asked about all the potential discounts like good student and safe driver? My kids had to do some sort of online course for part of their discount. And I submit their grades twice a year to keep the student discount.

We just bought a 2014 Focus. It has a nanny feature that can be programmed to a specific key to sound alarms and alert us if DD (still two years removed from her license) drives too fast. Allegedly, it's cheaper to insure for teens as a result.

 

[jodifla]

Given the homework levels in so many high schools today, I'm not sure how kids would be able to work enough to fully fund a car and keep their grades up. It's just not like when I was in school. And that's if they can even find a job in the current economy.

My parents let me drive their cars and they paid the insurance. I had a job at a movie theater and paid for my gas, any incidentals and I stockpiled my money for college. When I was about to leave for college, they did give me a car so I could get back and forth to school to my apartment and job and then back to my hometown to see them. (After crunching the numbers, we found the apartment was cheaper than the dorms.)

 

[CF'er]

Right now DS 18 is working and will start college in the fall. He just bought a used truck and is making the payments on it. I will probably help with the insurance payments so he won't be totally broke and can also focus on school. He works Thurs Fri Sat and makes pretty decent money so he should be good. DD16 is driving my old car and I still make the payments on it and put gas in it. She is trying to find a job but around here that isn't easy. She is involved in after school activities and honor/AP classes so that needs to be her focus. I hope she can find something with even a few hours to cover gas. We'll see.