Related to First job Thread - todays teens

In My Humble Opinion
21

I’m really not sure why half the answers in this thread seem to be of the “kids these days” variety.

Kids might feel more entitled than they have in the past. I’m not sure how you even measure that. But if it is, it’s not even a majority of the reason.

A good portion of the change is due to the fact that most parents have figured out that college is almost a necessity these days. And some things that a lot of college coaches, help guides, etc will tell you is that a minimum wage job is not the best way for your kid to stand out.

They will tell you to get your kids to volunteer. Indeed, volunteerism is way up among older teens right now. That alone accounts for the lion’s share of kids who, compared to 20 or 30 years ago, aren’t getting jobs - they’re giving up income to help out in their communities. That’s absolutely something that should be encouraged.

And some take interesting internships, unpaid or not. And because getting into college is more competitive, they’ll ship their kids off to college camps and educational summer programs instead of having them take jobs. Parents are a lot more engaged in their childrens’ lives now, for better or worse, meaning the life lessons, training, and income from low paid jobs is coming from elsewhere.

The traditional American rites of passage aren’t necessarily always a good thing. I don’t mind not seeing so many teens taking minimum wage jobs (not that there’s any shortage of teens in those anyway) if more of them are giving their time to help other people.

Sure, some kids (actually lots of kids) are still getting those jobs. But priorities have changed.

22

Yeah, I can kind of see that. Back in my day I worked so often I missed out on alot of activities and in reality, if a kid makes enough money to pay for a car then they end up with this big expense hanging over them which of course they have to work even more for. I’d rather have them focus on academics or school related activities.

They have the rest of their lives to do the rat race.

Now that being said they have to learn the basics of work:

  1. Show up when your supposed to.
  2. Dress the right way.
  3. Listen and follow instructions.

Those 3 alone are things they are going to need to do to succeed in life. Now after that are things like building a resume of job experiences and references. I had one young man come to interview with me who was 18 and never had a job before. His “professional” reference was his girlfriend.

23

They spend 12 years of their lives learning this from 8am to 3pm, 5 days a week in school.

No, what I think they’re missing out on by not working is learning to take initiative, recognize when a task needs to be done and doing it without micromanaging, and learning how to budget and delay gratification for things they want but can’t afford right now. Volunteerism (which many states have made mandatory for high school graduation; that’s why the rate of volunteering has spiked, not because they’re altruistic angels) can help with the initiative, but the budgeting and delay of gratification is hard to teach.

I’d say parents should be doing that at home with them from the time they’re young, but then I look around and realize most parents don’t know how to do it, either. And most grandparents seem clueless as well, seeing as most of the Baby Boomers have nothing substantial saved for retirement, despite the fact that *they *were working in high school. So…apparently taking a job in high school isn’t going to teach that, either.

24

I think this is a really good point that has been overlooked. There is a perfect storm: 1) dirt cheap, absolute junker cards are much less common–used cards hold their value much longer. 2) Insurance rates for teens have risen steadily and 3) minimum wage has gone down in real dollars. And public transportation is absolutely awful for these kinds of jobs–even in places with “good” public transportation, it’s slow, and it’s really hard to justify an hour on a bus each way for 3-4 hour shifts–especially when those come at the end of a full school day.

I know tons of kids who delay getting a licence because their parents can’t afford to put them on the insurance, even if they share the family car. And once you’re licensed, that’s it–they can’t just insure you for when you are working during the summer.

There is a real opportunity cost to working during school. Your academic acheivments will be less than they would have been, your social life will be more limited, you will not participate in many other things. For some reason, some parents will say “Well, that’s not true, they know they have to do both”, but the fact of the matter is that time is not unlimited–if you are at work 20 hours a week, you don’t have the same resources to dedicate to school as someone who is not. Either you make lower grades, you take less challenging courses, or you start cheating a lot. All of those are forms of reduced learning. That doesn’t make it the wrong choice–it’s a tradeoff–but it’s a choice that needs to be honestly faced. Effectively lowering wages and raising expenses make it a much less attractive choice.

25

Likewise, many businesses aren’t willing to comply with the various state and federal labor laws that govern underage employees. In Pennsylvania, where I live, the student’s school district is responsible for issuing a work permit, and the permit can be denied if the student’s academic performance is not satisfactory. (Cite here). I’m not naive enough to think that every employer is going to adhere to the law 100%, but for most, it’s not worth the hassle or the risk to employ a minor because the law is quite burdensome.

That said, given the restrictions placed on the number of hours that a minor can work, a lot of businesses that might have employed teens in the past are no longer willing to do so. It’s easier and cheaper to hire one person who can work 30 hours a week throughout the day or night than it is to hire two kids who can each only work 15 hours per week in three- or four-hour increments.

Finally, and to tack onto what Manda Jo said, kids who work and go to school and who may or may not have other activities, such as mandatory community service, are sleep-deprived. They’re at risk for injuries and other health problems. So something has to go and if the kid doesn’t need the money, it’s the job.

26

By the time the young people have completed twelve years of school, pardon me, but I think it is on the kids. As mentioned, they have certainly heard the message about how to show up and present. But does anyone tell them it’s on them?

I notice a lot of complaining about having to start at the bottom of the ladder. Everyone wants to be a manager straight out the door. I don’t think some understand or value the concept of working your way up by proving your worth. This is the gang where everyone got a trophy just for showing up so it’s surprising when some of them do.

Sorry to sound like such an old crab because I love kids. And I love them enough and have hope enough for their success to be concerned about how much society enables them. We seem to be extending their dependency way past the point where it’s healthy for them.

And I don’t see where all the concern we’ve developed for not overworking (overstressing, whatever the word) is serving them well. They seem less healthy both physically and mentally than children of forty years ago for all the sensitivity we’re sending their way.

Old-fashioned concepts perhaps, but they still work well today - take the initiative, develop some humility in your beginner position, and for honesty’s sake, don’t fool around on the internet when your boss is paying you for your time. It’s stealing.

Want something better? Suck it up and keep putting one foot in front of the other to make it happen.

Times are different? Well, don’t let circumstances stand in your way of developing good core values no matter what’s going on.

Signed,

Boomer who saved for retirement. Makes me so smug. :smiley:

27

Those are some good points there. I grew up in a rural area where as farm kids we would drive vehicles around even as young as 12. In Kansas back then one could get a learners permit at 14.

But forward now to age 16 and the only kids I see at 16 who are driving are those well off parents who can afford it.

28

Average family sizes are smaller now than they were a few generations ago. If you’re a parent and you have one or at most two kids, you’re going to concentrate that much more of your energy into their lives than if you had three, four, or five kids. It’s easier to cart them around to after-school activities, and you have more money to lavish on them so that they don’t need jobs as much.

29

I live semi rural. The kids I see who don’t have a car are the ones who have parents that are more than happy to drive then every where, or they don’t even care, would rather sit at home in front of the Xbox. My kids bought $2,000 vehicles ( I paid for half) and they’ve been pretty reliable. I also pay for gas to and from school, because we live out of the district and there is no busing, so I’d have to drive anyways. Any other gas is on them. They pay insurance and maintenance. Having a part time job is more than enough to pay for that, and anything else they want. They’re learning to live modestly, to save, and to prioritize~ what do they really, really want to do.

One of the guys who works for me has a nineteen year old who is now just getting his permit. His kid never wanted to expend the energy required to get a permit, let alone anything else.They live in the middle of absolutely no where. They’re going to give him a truck, pay for everything, etc. Needless to say he’s at still at home, not going to school, not working. The dad’s petty frustrated, but the mom enables quite a bit. It’s sad, and there’s no way the kid can be happy.

I think we as a society give kids too many excuses as to why they can’t. Your parents aren’t rich. You can’t go to a good college. You can’t keep your grades up. You know what? We keep on telling kids that, and they’ll start believing us.

I know for a fact that a high schooler can have a 3.6 a 3.9 and a 3.8 at a tough college prep school, while working part time, being multiple captains of different sports, organize blood drives, go on mission trips, feed the homeless, deliver furniture to people who need it, etc, and have a pretty robust social life. I have three of them so far.

The kids today are amazing. They want to do stuff, go places, be outstanding. We need to set standards and expectations, holds them to it, push a little, then get out of their way and let them do it.

30

Very good point. We have five, and a lot of those things just aren’t possible.

31

Just to triple post. (Sorry)

#2’s boyfriend who has a 4.1gpa, a perfect score on the ACT, and is debating between Notre Dame, Northwestern and Vanderbilt, works at Domino 's.

Don’t tell me it can’t be done. I’m not going to believe it.

32

There is also the matter of how responsible it is to allow a teenage to drive an absolute junker car when vastly safer options exist.

33

Hahahaha. You guys kill me.

I can’t/ they can’t/ we can’t.

34

Not everyone is the same. There’s a difference between the kid that has to study multiple hours a night just to “get” trigonometry versus the kid that doesn’t. Just because someone can break the 4.0 limit somehow (4.1 is possible? Where?) doesn’t mean every kid everywhere can. Honestly, there are some kids that cannot do it. Some of them are just not good enough to be able to excel in school and do all the extra activities and jobs everyone expects of them.

I’ll concede. I was one of those kids - I was not good enough to be able to excel at school and a job at the same time.

35

My two oldest teens (both 17) were given a challenge at the start of Spring Break this year. Find a job and get to it. This came after the realization that although at home they were learning accountability and good work ethics, they did not have any experience with budgeting money they had earned (since we paid for what we deemed necessary and never let them handle cash). They had both previously worked as clean up guys for my husbands construction crews two summers ago and lost ALL of their money they were saving to buy vehicles when they got caught partying at home when they thought we were leaving to go out of town. (Their down payment money paid for the smoke/alcohol damage to our living room-consequences can be expensive)
Well to our dismay they took the first job they were offered (McDonalds) where they were hired because they had a pulse and received little to no training and inconsistent schedules. They have come home and confessed that having this job has impressed upon them the importance of an education and how poorly managed their store is. So given their two jobs (hard manual labor and the food industry), the two knuckle heads are working harder on improving their grades. They still have their Mcjobs, but they are ever grateful and empathetic to the working man and parents.

36

We had record snowfalls in Michigan this past year and many was a day I left a few inches of snow on the sidewalks for a couple of days and just went into my garage and plowed out thru the driveway. Not a single set of steps came up to my front door during this time which would have been a sign that some kid was walking around trying to make some extra money shoveling sidewalks. Not sure what to make of this since the kids had a lot of days off this year. Heck, my neighborhood is fairly well off and I’ve pretty sure that a lot of them had access to dad’s high end snow blower.

In my day we kids would have gone out in groups with shovels in order to make some quick cash. Just dumbfounded that not a single person knocked on my door all year.

37

I get that every kid is not the same. I get that different kids have different talents and aptitudes. I get that a job in high school isn’t for everyone. College isn’t for everyone. My husband went, and never should have. He then ended up going to a tech school for carpentry. He is much happier as a carpenter.

My main complaint is that it seems like a lot of parents cripple their children for the future. They don’t ask them to do chores, or pay for things themselves, or work hard at things they want to get good at. They try to shelter them from the real world, then expect that magically these kids are going to have real world skills when they turn 18, or 22 or 30, Then the parents complain when the kids never move out, don’t know how to hold a job, can’t manage money and can’t seem to function.

My 10 year old makes everyone dinner on occasion. Hot stoves, knives, food poisoning. We’ve all survived, and he knows not only that he is competent to be able to do it, but we have faith and confidence in him and his capabilities. That is how you make an adult.

High school part time jobs aren’t for everyone. But it does fulfill the beginning of acquiring some of those skills. If nothing else, learning that you DON’T want to spend the rest of your life doing them. And how much taxes get taken out. And how far your money actually goes. And how to get along with that asshole boss. And what 25 year olds that are still stuck @ 17 looks like. And how unreasonable some customers can be.

No, you don’t get a trophy just for showing up.

38

Maybe in your area the jobs actually are available for teenagers. In my area, they just aren’t. Teenagers are competing with adults who have substantial work experience. This is in London, but I suspect it’s the same in at least some cities in the US.

39

In our suburb there seem to be plenty of jobs for teens, but I can see how that wouldn’t be true everywhere. And I certainly am seeing adults my age in jobs that I used to see high school and college kids filling.

My sixteen year old son has a job at a hardware store, and has for over a year. Most of his friends work. Many of them work in the mall. A group of them all work as waitstaff at the same assisted living home and share rides.

I should say that most of them are not involved in sports. Some of them are quite studious, but not all.

My son is signed up to have his school day end at noon for his senior year so he can work during the week.

40

This should really be more of a focus of discussion here. Two thirds of people who make the minimum wage or less are at least 30 years old. It’s not because teens are special snowflakes, or because unlike every other generation they [insert made-up flaw of your choosing]. It’s because adults are working more of those jobs - often more than one of them at a time - because they need them.