Teens holding part-time jobs...

[holdoll]

What are some ground rules you lay down for your teen when it comes to working a part-time job? How many hours per day/week do you allow or do you just let them work whenever?

 

DD wanted a job and got one as a seasonal employee. DH and I told her that if her grades suffered, that would be the end of the job.

 

She made it through her first day yesterday and brought home her schedule for the first week. She was so excited - I was stunned. :001_unsure: She's working 6 hours per day. That's almost full time. They are ramping up for the holiday rush, so should I just let her work as many hours as she can through the end of December and then see what happens? The hiring manager told her they would be keeping some of the new people even after the holidays and I know that is what she's hoping for.

[K-FL]

I'm surprised that she can work that many hours with the child labor laws. Here they are so you'll have the info Youth Rules

Actually, if you go to the parent's page, Fed Law for 16yo + is unlimited.

 

Personally, I worked during hs & it was great. However, I didn't work near that many hours (maybe 3/day during school w/more on weekends & breaks).

Edited November 24, 2010 by K-FL

[lionfamily1999]

Well, unless this is her hope for a long-term career, then I would not give her the time off from school. Money is great, but unfortunatly you can't buy brains or time. Also, I agree with the pp that this seems to violate child labor laws.

 

I agree with your dh. Have fun and work, as long as you keep your grades up.

[Brilliant]

Wow, 30 hours a week is a lot. My dd wouldn't be able to do that and keep up with her schoolwork - but she is also in rehearsal/dance class 3 nights a week.

 

She just started a job of about 12-16 hours a week, and I'm worried she won't be able to keep up. But she is only committed through the end of the year, so I think she'll be OK since her CC class is almost over.

[swimmermom3]

My dd works 2-3 mornings per week for 4 hours at a time babysitting the daughter of the young woman who was my dd's babysitter while growing up. It is an ideal situation but I do have to remind my dd that she needs to do school work later on those days. Where things will get difficult is when she begins volunteering at the library. She needs to put in about 6 hours a week and she will earn credit for it through the public high school she was attending.

[angela in ohio]

Working as a seasonal employee during a school break each year would be a great set-up. She could then have some money, but still have a free schedule for school work the rest of the year. The business might be very happy to have her back each year.

[Liza Q]

My daughter works 2-3 mornings a week. At most, it works out to about 18 hours per week and we find it doable - her schoolwork (well, not counting her SAT math :glare:) has not suffered and she has been working there (local bakery - her hours are usually 6am-noon) for nearly 18 months.

 

30 seems like too much if she has a full load of classes...but it is for a season, right? I think I would go for your idea of reevaluating after the holidays. This job could be a great thing for her over the next few years, as it could turn into a summer job during college. So, yes, I would let her give it a try and commit to the next 5-6 weeks. She would not be able to get that far behind during that time, would she? I know that I would have my daughter keep up with math, Chemistry and German, as her other subjects would be easy to catch up (she is a fast reader/writer) and draw up a plan to catch up after the holidays. ymmv!

[AngieW in Texas]

I would love for my 17yo to be able to get a seasonal job. I keep forwarding job openings to her and she applies for some of them. She has some interviews. She just doesn't seem to realize that she's likely to need to apply to 1000 or more job openings before she actually finds a job. She completes maybe 3-5/month and expects that to be all she needs to do. During the summer I required her to complete 10 applications every week.

 

I don't think she's actually going to end up getting a job. She really really really needs to get a job. She is going to drive us all crazy this summer if she doesn't have a job because she won't have any social outlet at all. She graduates at the end of May and will start college in late August. She needs to have something to do for the summer. I am going to require her to volunteer somewhere full-time if she doesn't have a job for the summer.

[Hunter's Moon]

I'm 17. I would love to get a job. But, I also see the downsides.

 

I have no transportation. I would have to walk or take a bus, and our area is dangerous. I could do it, but jobs where I live are limited, also. We live in a predominantly Hispanic area, so a lot of employers would like bi-lingual employees.

 

Teens generally get screwed over. From seeing those around me get jobs as a teen, employers definitely take advantage of teenagers. Whether it be telling them they get "___ hours" and then they call in to see if work is still on and their hours were cut to let the older, bi-lingual employees work, or just being treated like crap, I don't think it is worth it.

 

I would rather get volunteer time in for my career choice. I can't work in a hospital, nursing home, or daycare. Again, they would like bi-lingual, experienced employees. I live near 3 hospitals, but all tell me they need someone with experience. Once I turn 18 though, I can volunteer at the children's hospital there. They don't need experience, just extra hands.

 

My parents don't require I pay for anything. Some may call it spoiled, but my parents feel if I get good grades and can make responsible choices, I shouldn't be forced to get a job I won't enjoy just to pay them. Once I get a job and am in college, if I am still living at home, I will most certainly pay them room and board and my own phone bills. My parents wouldn't make me even then. They think my education is more important than getting a job.

 

I think it is just different for all families. Some want their kids to contribute and think jobs can give their children responsibilities. My parents feel responsibility doesn't need to come from working a job, but there are other outlets for it, such as schoolwork and volunteering.

 

That is just my families views.

[holdoll]

I told dd this morning that 3 days of 5 hour shifts will be plenty when we start back to school next week. (This large retail chain only offers 5 or 8 hour shifts.) They didn't tell her that in the interview. She put the hours down that she could work and figured that's when they'd schedule her. LOL! I know that employers tend to take advantage of teens and she is going to have to learn to say "no". If they don't like it, oh well.

 

She wants to get her drivers license and we cannot afford an extra $115 per month to pay for the car insurance. That's why she chose to do this. I've always been of the mindset that school is her "job". I also remember being 16. She is a great kid and I have to let her spread her wings a little. Hopefully, I won't have to rein her in, but I will if need be.

[Ester Maria]

I wouldn't allow my daughters to hold even part-time jobs during their formal schooling. Education should be the first, and free time the second priority in teen years in my opinion, financial issues being covered by the parents. (Of course, I'm talking with the assumption that there is no actual need to work, the family not being poor, etc.)

 

Occasional jobs during school breaks, for older teens, might be discussed if they really want them, but nothing that remotely resembles a regular job during the semester.

[rlugbill]

I think work is also educational. Your dd is learning what the work world is like. She is probably learning a lot plus getting some money. I don't think it is all about money. I think there is an educational aspect to working as a teen.

 

That said, the educational aspect is learned just as well by working part-time as by working full-time. Full-time work plus full time school is probably too much for most teens. And you don't want to cut back on her studies.

 

So, part-time is probably best, where she gets the work experience, but is also able to do her studies.

 

I think that some combination of school and work is probably beneficial for most young people. All of one or the other isn't balanced. No school isn't good because you aren't learning anything beyond your own experience. No work isn't good because you are too ivory-tower and not down to earth enough. But, a combo of both is great.

 

So, some sort of balance, such as doing part-time work, or working seasonally may be good. I think this is beneficial also for college students and for college graduates. For many years after college, I would go to school part-time or take a class here and there while I was working also.

 

Now, I'm a parent so it's harder to do, but I think the work-school combo is good for young people.

[holdoll]

I wouldn't allow my daughters to hold even part-time jobs during their formal schooling. Education should be the first, and free time the second priority in teen years in my opinion, financial issues being covered by the parents. (Of course, I'm talking with the assumption that there is no actual need to work, the family not being poor, etc.)

 

Occasional jobs during school breaks, for older teens, might be discussed if they really want them, but nothing that remotely resembles a regular job during the semester.

 

Yes, if only it were a perfect world.

 

My original questions were, "What are some ground rules you lay down for your teen when it comes to working a part-time job? How many hours per day/week do you allow or do you just let them work whenever?"

 

Her father and I have already allowed her to take a part-time job. I just wanted some ideas from others that have BTDT as to what are a reasonable amount of hours to work per week.

[Ester Maria]

Yes, if only it were a perfect world.

 

My original questions were, "What are some ground rules you lay down for your teen when it comes to working a part-time job? How many hours per day/week do you allow or do you just let them work whenever?"

 

Her father and I have already allowed her to take a part-time job. I just wanted some ideas from others that have BTDT as to what are a reasonable amount of hours to work per week.

I don't see what the question has to do with the world not being perfect :confused:, I was answering what you asked from the point of view of somebody who discussed that option with her husband and children: she's a child and I would definitely not allow any amount of work which interferes with studies in a normal family financial situation.

 

If she's willing to give up some of her genuinely free time to work, it's her decision (I'd still discourage it, but if there's zero interference with school, I guess whether one works in their free time or watches TV is irrelevant), but it would absolutely have to "fit" her free time, without interfering with school.

 

Let's say your children school from 8 to 4 with all of school duties being done in that time span. It means that the earliest a job can begin is about 5, and it certainly has to end about 8 or so, for the kid to have some free/family time in the evening. That means 3 hours maximally per day, i.e. 15 hours weekly. I can't see how she can manage to work 6 hours daily without it significantly damaging either her schoolwork, either her sleep, either the minimum free/family time which I feel is necessary to lead an emotionally healthy life. It would basically mean 8 hours school + 8 hours sleep + 6 hours work + 2 hours food/commute/free time, etc. Which is a VERY unhealthy schedule for a teen in my opinion. I seriously wouldn't recommend it - at the very least, her weekly work should be halved.

 

Only my .02.

 

ETA: Sorry. While reading the thread I missed your last post on the previous page in which you explain things with car and the new work offerred, so I was still writing this reply as if replying only to the information from the original post (about 6 hours work and all).

Edited November 24, 2010 by Ester Maria

[Ester Maria]

Full-time work plus full time school is probably too much for most teens.

It's pretty much impossible. Teens need to sleep even more than 8 hours, and 8 (school) + 8 (work) + 8 (sleep) is already a full day. And that's without eating, showering, commuting, home chores, talking to their parents and siblings, free time, listening to music, relaxing and being a kid.

 

Even with a part-time job it gets very, very challenging to squeeze it all in. Something's gotta give - it's either going to be school (usually), either sleep, either a normal amount of daily socializing and relaxing. I find that for teens, it's the best if the work is what they give up on to pursue these other elements of life which I believe are so much more crucial at that age than earning some money. They'll be doing that for most of their life afterward anyway, why rush?

[Rosie_0801]

I know my kids are only tots, but they'll be working as soon as they are able to get a job, even if that means their high school years have to be stretched out another year. However we live in Australia, not the US and people here who don't work during high school don't get work during uni either, and will have Major Troubles finding work after uni unless their dad can get them a job somewhere, no matter how well they did at school. Not only does it matter whether you worked, it matters where, so this will be a major focus for us.

 

There'd have to be some pretty good reasons for me to be comfortable allowing a 20hr a week job, I'd prefer no more than 15. However I'd rather they had a 25 hour a week office job than a 10 hour a week job in retail because office jobs count in the long term and retail jobs don't.

 

 

Rosie

Edited November 24, 2010 by Rosie_0801

[K-FL]

However we live in Australia, not the US and people here who don't work during high school don't get work during uni either, and will have Major Troubles finding work after uni unless their dad can get them a job somewhere, no matter how well they did at school. Not only does it matter whether you worked, it matters where, so this will be a major focus for us.

 

Rosie

 

It's a problem here too in that if you've never had a job (with a W-2, not cash only babysitting, mowing, etc) it's very difficult to get a job. You have no one for a potential employer to call and check your references with as to the type of employee you are. Even a job as a cashier looks better (and gives you cash-handling skills) than having a blank application.

 

Granted, if you're filling all that free time with volunteer work, sports or the like (not just texting & hanging) you've got something to show.

[AngieW in Texas]

I got a job during the summer between 11th and 12th grades. I worked nearly full-time in the summer. During the schoolyear I worked 20-25 hours/week.

 

I'd love for my dd to work 10-20 hours/week or to volunteer for that amount of time somewhere. I'd be okay with up to 30 hours/week occasionally (not midterms week or finals week, maybe 1-2x while school was in session) or even all the way up to 40 hours/week during weeks when she didn't have school.

[Kissy]

I worked while I was in high school and plan to allow my son to work as well. When I was 15 I worked on weekends only for 9 hours; 3 on friday, 6 on Saturday. Then at 16 I worked about 20 hours a week. At 17 I went to high school half a day and worked half a day so it went up to 30 hours a week. I got a coop credit for working it was considered part of my schooling. I had block scheduling and would have 2 classes a semester when I was working 30 hours. I would say no to over 20 hours a week with a full load but if she doesn't want to graduate early and doesn't have many classes to finish high school maybe she could do like me and go part time hours and work the rest for a credit of some sort.

[LoriM]

I did the statistics for a dissertation by a USAF Air War College professor who was trying to draw conclusions to predict college ROTC success, given high school demographic data.

 

The ONLY valid predictor was high school employment.

 

Turns out that students who remain the kind of excellent, driven, leaders that the Air Force recruits and gives scholarships have jobs in high school...as well as good grades, strong test scores, and sports and club leadership experience.

 

Anyway, I analyzed 15 years of data, and it completely changed my attitude about teens' working. Until then, I agreed with Ester 100%. Fortunately for my children they were young teens at the time, and so they both got to work at 16yo. My 18 yo works about 25 hours a week, while taking 18 college credits. She chose to wait until she was 17 to work, but she has proven to be very responsible managing her work and life obligations.

 

For this situation, I would probably treat it as "a bird in the hand" and let her work, while dropping to minimal lessons (3-4 hours each day) until the season is over. Then I would take it one week at a time for scheduling after the first of the year. No reason to panic and lay down the law only to have her lose the job by February!

[Ester Maria]

people here who don't work during high school don't get work during uni either, and will have Major Troubles finding work after uni unless their dad can get them a job somewhere, no matter how well they did at school.

I'm sorry, Rosie, but for some reason this sounds really odd to me (might be a cultural mismatch, I'm probably watching it through the prism of my culture). Does it mean that a lawyer will not get a job because they didn't work as cashiers in high school? That a high quality doctor will not get a job because they didn't spend hundreds upon hundreds of their hours in youth in restaurants and shops because they were hitting the books? It just sounds really odd, because really good people in all disciplines are pretty much sought after.

 

Are you seriously telling me that good experts with terrific university educations will not be able to find jobs because they didn't work in high school?

The ONLY valid predictor was high school employment. [..] Anyway, I analyzed 15 years of data, and it completely changed my attitude about teens' working. Until then, I agreed with Ester 100%.

I don't know, my experiences are still drastically different. It might be cultural, but just about anyone I know who became really good at what they were doing - from lawyers to musicians - didn't even have a regular job in university, let alone in high school (most of them had no jobs whatsoever in high school, not even during school breaks). They're all competent, lovely, normal, hardworking, successful people nowadays. They didn't need early working experiences to get there nor to develop all the qualities needed to succeed.

In fact, if anything, it was the kids who were dedicating too much of their time and energy to by-the-way jobs (that weren't professionally related to their fields of study and careers) that were less focused on school, had less time to develop their interests and less time to form meaningful relationships with people (I find this to be crucial in teen years and early twenties) that didn't make it professionally very well and whose schooling got overshadowed by other things. Of course, exceptions exist on both sides, but I'm speaking generally here.

 

Other than earning some money (which I understand if the circumstances are such and money is an issue in family and there's no way a teen can not work in such a situation), what's so valuable about random jobs not tied to your future profession? And what makes it so crucial to do it during your formal schooling? I just don't understand it. I also don't see a single quality that couldn't be developed by other means. In short, I guess what I'm saying here is that I don't get why it's a good predicator of anything, especially being that my experiences directly contradict it.

[regentrude]

I have the same experiences as EsterMaria, also coming from a (very) different culture. When I grew up, nobody had a job while in school, except for maybe during school breaks - and people grew up to be responsible adults.

 

I am also extremely surprised about the comment about people not getting jobs after university. Not at all my experience here in the US. The graduates from out university get their 50k+ starting salaries because they have an excellent engineering education (which includes internships in their field of study, of course)- but not because they worked at Walmart. When my colleagues hire somebody fresh out of grad school, employment as a teaching or research assistant during school may give the candidate an edge - but a cafeteria job is utterly irrelevant (and not a predictor of how good a physicist the person is). And for a classical musicians, only jobs related to music will have any impact (and may be essential) for future employment.

So I am wondering whether the observations may have something to do with the field those young people study?

[mereminerals]

My ds will be 17 on Saturday and started working almost a month ago. He had turned in over 40 applications before getting this job. The first week he only worked 14 hours, but is now up to over 20 hours a week. So far, it is not interfering with his schoolwork. He goes in at 5pm and gets off around 10pm, sometimes 10:30. He too has to pay for his car insurance, as well as his gas.

 

Our rules are if it ever interferes with his grades, then he will first have to cut his hours. If that doesn't help, then he will no longer be able to work. Fortunately for us, the manager is a friend of the family and is very supportive of our rules.

[regentrude]

I did the statistics for a dissertation by a USAF Air War College professor who was trying to draw conclusions to predict college ROTC success, given high school demographic data.

 

The ONLY valid predictor was high school employment.

 

Turns out that students who remain the kind of excellent, driven, leaders that the Air Force recruits and gives scholarships have jobs in high school...as well as good grades, strong test scores, and sports and club leadership experience.

 

 

I thought about this some more. Did you research give any indication that this observed correlation is also indicating a causality?

 

I certainly do not doubt the correlation - the students who pull off great grades, extracurriculars AND a paid job must be absolute overachievers and are likely to succeed in whatever they do. I am wondering, however, what mechanism could make this a causality: what, in respect to character development, is so special about a paid outside commitment that it is superior to a commitment the student is taking on voluntarily and without monetary compensation?

[K-FL]

You may be comparing apples to oranges.

 

The TOP students won't have problems getting jobs, but what about the rest? Not every electrical/computer engineer is recruited by IBM while still a student. And with the current economy and un-employment numbers, any experience will be valuable, I would think. Some one with cashier experience has money handling experience which means they're a better recruit for banking positions. They also have customer service time and dealing-with-unpleasant-people skills. Same with working at a theme park, office or as a lifeguard.

 

You never know how those "marketable skills" will translate later on.

[regentrude]

You may be comparing apples to oranges.

 

The TOP students won't have problems getting jobs, but what about the rest? Not every electrical/computer engineer is recruited by IBM while still a student. And with the current economy and un-employment numbers, any experience will be valuable, I would think. Some one with cashier experience has money handling experience which means they're a better recruit for banking positions. They also have customer service time and dealing-with-unpleasant-people skills. Same with working at a theme park, office or as a lifeguard.

 

You never know how those "marketable skills" will translate later on.

 

But then, would it not be more effective if the student put those hours into becoming a top student (especially considering how expensive tuition is)? When I was an undergraduate, I needed to study 60+ hours a week in order to graduate top of my class.

My observation in the students I teach is that working many hours definitely has a detrimental effect on their academic performance. This is no surprise: with 16-18 credit hours and a recommended 2 hours outside class for every hour in class they already should be spending between 48 and 54 hours on school alone, more if they are struggling.

I understand that many students need to work for financial reasons; but for those who don't, I think it is beneficial if they put their effort into maximizing their academic performance - so that they get hired right away in their field of expertise (which, financially, makes a lot more sense, too).

 

Several students I talked to mentioned that their parents, who were paying the tuition, insisted they do not work a job while in college, but that they spend their time on schoolwork in order to maximize academic success (and ultimately get the best return on the parent's monetary investment).

Again, I completely understand that financial circumstances may force a student to work; I am just talking about the ones who do it by choice, in order to finance "wants", not needs.

edit: To make things clear: I am talking about employment during the school year, not during summer break.

[gingersmom]

I worked various retail jobs in high school for maybe 2-3 months at a time. I worked Saturdays and maybe Tuesday and Friday for 3 hours or so.

 

Based on my experiences my children will not be working in high school.

 

My 14 year old is so busy with skating and her skating team that there is no time to work anyways.

 

I would rather my children fill their time with extracurricular or volunteer activities than a paid job at the mall.

[Rosie_0801]

I'm sorry, Rosie, but for some reason this sounds really odd to me (might be a cultural mismatch, I'm probably watching it through the prism of my culture). Does it mean that a lawyer will not get a job because they didn't work as cashiers in high school? That a high quality doctor will not get a job because they didn't spend hundreds upon hundreds of their hours in youth in restaurants and shops because they were hitting the books?

 

Are you seriously telling me that good experts with terrific university educations will not be able to find jobs because they didn't work in high school?

 

Yeah, it's pretty much true. Not 100% true, but close enough for the average person that not working during high school and uni if at all possible, is a stupid choice.

 

Someone studying medicine at uni won't be able to work outside of that, but they go on to years of internship. However, who says they are going to get into medicine in the first place? It's still better if they work in high school, just in case.

 

It just sounds really odd, because really good people in all disciplines are pretty much sought after.

Sure, but over here "really good" involves having worked in nearly all cases.

 

If you were in Australia rather than the US, you'd probably still do what you are doing, because you'd trust that your kids are coming from a much more highly educated and well connected background that pretty much everyone else, so the rest of us aren't really rivals. If your kids were wanting to go into quite different industries to where you and your husband work, so you can't pull on the "old boys" network, they'd be best keeping a small secretarial job at their father's workplace or something.

 

In the US, as far as I can tell, kids often use their spare hours for enrichment activities and volunteer work. Over here, the sports, music and hobby clubs drop off in high school and kids work. Those that don't (with very few exceptions) are disadvantaged. Employers aren't particularly impressed by extra curricular activities unless you also work.

 

That's one reason the previously prestigious university in this state is losing some of its prestige; other universities are building internships into many of their science and engineering type degrees. Here, stupidly, advertisements for graduate positions are asking one to three years experience. If you don't have that, you don't get a look in, which is why my hubby, after having changed industries and losing his job with only 7 months of industry experience behind him, isn't finding employment.

 

what's so valuable about random jobs not tied to your future profession? And what makes it so crucial to do it during your formal schooling?

 

I know you weren't talking to me with this comment, but I'll answer anyway :D Because that's what employers want to see. Because that's what people who interview you for university entrance (some courses require interviews) want to see. A job at a chicken shop doesn't count for a whole lot, but it counts for more than passing piano exams does, and kids who are in school don't have the opportunities to do extensive work experience in the field they want to pursue. Work experience through schools is about 2 weeks per year, and public school kids don't find out their dates in time to make arrangements for anything good, so most do work experience somewhere that will get them a job, like a supermarket. Private school students get their dates much earlier and consequently have more opportunities for these things. However it is still only a measly two weeks. It doesn't count much as experience to put on a resume, but it is a good taster for them to see if their imagined idea of the industry matches to reality. Outside of school, they only have nights and weekends to work in.

 

If I have any say in the matter (note to self: be nice to my teens so they'll do as I say ;) :P ) my kids will start out with a lousy retail job and only stay there long enough to jump to a junior office job. Admin is a useful thing to have on a resume in high school. Hours in retail get cut as soon as kids turn 18, unless they've already worked up their way to management, so those high school jobs rarely carry a person through uni. If they can jump from junior admin to something related to their future, all the better. If they can't, admin is a much better place to be than retail.

 

So I am wondering whether the observations may have something to do with the field those young people study?

 

Yeah, sure it does. As far as I can tell, there are fewer fields here that don't require a person to have worked previously than there are in the US. If you're going to put your eggs in one basket, you want to be very, very close to certain that your basket will hold, don't you?

 

But then, would it not be more effective if the student put those hours into becoming a top student (especially considering how expensive tuition is)?

 

We're not all that clever and don't all have that amount of intellectual stamina :)

 

A different country with different rules :) See how brave us Aussies are to hang here reading about your high school programs? :tongue_smilie: There's no way we can do that and still get the required resume building accomplished. I am not going to bet, at age 14 and 9 months, that my kids are going to become the intellectual elite. Their parents certainly aren't.

 

Rosie

Edited November 25, 2010 by Rosie_0801

[Allearia]

My kids are young yet, but from my own experience I definitely want them to work during high school. My work experience during high school helped immensely in getting a job during and after college. I did office work during high school however. But it still holds even if you are working in retail or a restaurant. Given two highly qualified candidates, the one who has shown that they can hold down a job will have an edge. Even if it is completely unrelated, just that you have been able to get to work on time and do what the boss says is important.

 

And also, which may be related to American culture, it shows that you haven't had everything handed to you and you had to work for something. There is a great respect for being able to "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" in this country. If you got excellent grades, did extracurriculars, and worked as a waiter during high school, that is going to show a strong work ethic.

 

Now, do I think that those who don't work until after high school or college will never be able to get a job? Of course not. But for most people, if you can get an edge up on your first job, it is a great benefit.

 

I also think for me, and what I want for my sons, that having to work hard doing what we may think of as an undesirable job will help them respect hard work, and having to earn their own money for clothes/cars/activities will make them learn the value of their dollar and the importance of saving and budgeting. I view it as part of their education, and I strongly value a traditional classical education and hope that through homeschooling they will have more time at the end of the day to pursue work or volunteer opportunities.

 

However, and back to the OPs question, I would want to limit the hours to a couple per day or the weekends at most times. I may let them do a 6 hour per day schedule if it was limited, from say now through the holidays, but come January the hours would need to be greatly reduced. And unless there was true financial need I may make them quit if their studies and grades suffer.

[Laura Corin]

School work comes first. Beyond that (and sleep) it's up to him.

 

Currently, Calvin is working at checking exam marks: one of our neighbours marks exams for a living and needs someone meticulous to check that the grades she gives for each question tally with the number of ticks she awards, and that it all adds up in the end. He gets 25p per exam paper, so will make about £80 in the end. He's managing to wrap it around his school work pretty well.

 

Laura

[Deb in NZ]

I worked ~30 hrs. my senior year in HS (+ good grades + volunteering + activities, etc.) Dh worked part-time since he was ~12yo & full-time since he was 16 1/2.

 

With dd we told her, "don't rush out to get a supermarket job. Keep the paper run (4hrs. / wk) & the occasional holiday work, but no regular work during the school year." We wanted her to have the time to pursue her interests, study hard, volunteer, etc. & build up her resume that way. Looking back we should have agreed to her working at least 15hrs / week from age 16+. By the middle of this year (her 1st year at uni) she needed to work at least 10hrs. to just make ends meet. Dh had lost his job & neither of us have been able to find work, so we were unable to help her out on any regular basis. Like Rosie said, getting a job during uni depends a lot on having paid work experience during highschool. This shows that you are dependable, can manage your time, are easy to get along with, are capable of doing the work, etc. By having menial work experience on your resume, it tells employers that you aren't expecting to start at the top, you are willing to work your way up and you aren't afraid of hard work.

 

Our 2ds each currently have paper runs. Ds#1 has been applying to summer jobs, that he hopes will continue into the schoolyear, if he doesn't get a fulltime engineering apprenticeship. Ds#2 began working at age 9 on his paper run. Yes that's extremely young for working, but it's only ~4hrs/wk & is able to be worked around his other obligations (study, sport, etc.). Ds#2 has learned to get the job done even when he's tired, even when it is raining, even when he'd just rather not work. He's learned to save for something he really wants & calculates how many weeks' work something costs before he purchases things. He bought himself an iPod last year & this took years to save up for as he only was making $15/month subcontracting to his sister to help her on her paper run. Since then he's been able to purchase a cell phone as well. We pay the basic costs of education, sport, etc., but can not (will not) pay for extras such as iPods, cell phones, etc.

 

Jobs here are very hard to get, even with a great education, if you don't have recent work experience. I have great qualifications, but as I have no recent paid employment, I haven't even gotten an interview after applying for jobs for the past 3 months. My last full-time job was 18 years ago. Employers don't seem to care that I have tons of volunteer experience in the past 10 years. They want to see the paid employment history.

 

JMHO,

[LoriM]

I thought about this some more. Did you research give any indication that this observed correlation is also indicating a causality?

 

I certainly do not doubt the correlation - the students who pull off great grades, extracurriculars AND a paid job must be absolute overachievers and are likely to succeed in whatever they do. I am wondering, however, what mechanism could make this a causality: what, in respect to character development, is so special about a paid outside commitment that it is superior to a commitment the student is taking on voluntarily and without monetary compensation?

 

Oh, no, of course not, nor did I mean to imply that! (I swear, using the iPad to peck out answers on this board is going to be the death of me!)

 

You read me perfectly; successful students handle *everything* well, but their "future" success was not correlated with sports, high grades, or club leadership. It was as if those things, while minimum standards for scholarships, held no value as predictors. But top students in every other way who also held jobs? Wow.

 

Anyway, my personal experience was overrun by the data. :) I didn't hold a job concurrently with school at any point in my teens, because I was an overachieving scholar with lots of leadership obligations. Of course, it also turned out that I flamed out in college and did not get commissioned...so I supported the research. LOL!

 

Please remember this is a 15 year longitudinal data analysis, not personal experience, however. I know several exceptions, and several shining examples, just like any other statistical study. :)

[greenvneck]

(This is my first post on this board, I think, but this thread really struck me for some reason as needing a response.)

 

Honestly, I think the answer to your questions depends on the child. I have 17-year old twins. One of them does have a job as a skating carhop. She works anywhere from 26-35 hours a week, maintains a 4.0+ GPA while taking three college classes (Calculus 3, Physics 2, Comp 2), attends four tae kwon do classes a week and, yes, still manages to find time to crochet, paint, hang out with friends and family, etc. I have no problem whatsoever with her working as much as she wants, she thrives on being constantly busy.

 

OTOH, her twin sister is pretty much the complete opposite. She claims she is putting in applications, but she refuses to learn how to drive, so the places she can apply are limited. She is maintaining a 3.6ish GPA in two college classes (U.S. History 1 and Astronomy), but does not apply herself in a manner that suggests she could handle much outside work; I would be reluctant to see her work more than 10-15 hours a week.

 

Sorry for the novel, I just wanted to say that I think it really depends on your child's personality and work ethic.

[Elizabeth in WA]

Oh, no, of course not, nor did I mean to imply that! (I swear, using the iPad to peck out answers on this board is going to be the death of me!)

 

You read me perfectly; successful students handle *everything* well, but their "future" success was not correlated with sports, high grades, or club leadership. It was as if those things, while minimum standards for scholarships, held no value as predictors. But top students in every other way who also held jobs? Wow.

 

Anyway, my personal experience was overrun by the data. :) I didn't hold a job concurrently with school at any point in my teens, because I was an overachieving scholar with lots of leadership obligations. Of course, it also turned out that I flamed out in college and did not get commissioned...so I supported the research. LOL!

 

Please remember this is a 15 year longitudinal data analysis, not personal experience, however. I know several exceptions, and several shining examples, just like any other statistical study. :)

 

It occurs to me, and this may be completely off base... but wouldn't a kid getting top grades, heavily involved in sports, club leadership, and holding a job be used to having little to no free time? Could this be a big part of what correlated to greater success for the ROTC students?

[LoriM]

It occurs to me, and this may be completely off base... but wouldn't a kid getting top grades, heavily involved in sports, club leadership, and holding a job be used to having little to no free time? Could this be a big part of what correlated to greater success for the ROTC students?

 

Outstanding time management would definitely be a developed skill. :)