Summer jobs for teens, a good thing?

I worked in retail in high school and it was good experience. I learned time management, independence and how to prioritize spending. My money was for extra things that I wanted - if I needed a shirt, Mom would buy it. If I wanted that shirt to be a Polo, I bought it. I would have no problem with my daughter working a bit while she is in school. I still had plenty of time to be a kid - I was in choir and active at my church and was able to be involved in plenty of activities. I am a firm believer that everyone should have to wait tables or work in retail at some point in life - you learn a lot about how to treat people!

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I also think kids should work, and towards the end of contributing to their own and household expenses. It is completely ridiculous that the average working teen have more disposable income than my entire household, it teaches them that money is for fun things, not for the necessities of life. Kids need to learn that luxuries are, well, luxuries.

My sister in law has this problem in spades, she's a single mom and her parents are still basically supporting her while she blows large portions of her paycheque on spa treatments and Tim Hortons coffee. Her father even gave her a job in one of his stores.

I'm considering starting my daughter an allowance when she's got the basic math skills down (grade 1 or 2) but also then making her buy her "special hot lunch days" items (our school does 1 day a week of pizza, subs or hotdogs) from her allowance. She can have a free lunch and snacks packed by mom, or pay a dollar for a soggy hotdog... but that's going to be her own money. Gotta start somewhere.

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working at a young age does different things to different people, because ultimately people are different. but i have found that most people who have worked at a younger age tend to be more focused, self-sufficent, driven, and expect alot out of life.

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I am 15 years old, and I plan on getting a 'real' Job next summer. Right now I work for a family babysitting 10 hours a day/50 hours a week and then i have another babysitting job on the weekends, and I enjoy it and i like having my own money to spend on what i want and not haveing to beg my parents to give me some.

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I began working part-time the summer of my 16th year. Being that I was an A student and total geek, I did not have much a Life. lol So I figured, "Go to Work!". (Although today, I wish I would have learned an instrument instead!) I realized later in Life that all of my paychecks, while still in high school, went right to my parents. They did not ask me for it. I just gave it to them. I didn't need the money. But then I found out they used the money to pay for my car insurance, clothes, etc. I was supporting myself and did not know it!

My 14 year old son, on the otherhand, has an active Social Life AND is LOADED. He babysits, cuts grass, and gets hundreds of dollars at Birthday and Christmas. (We have a big family.) I've encouraged him to save his money for his up-coming high school expenses. However, he tends to whittle the money by treating his friends out, or by making spontaneous purchases.

Two years ago, I had decided to start "borrowing" money from my son. He has paid for such items as my new tires, and my emergency dentist bill! He has treated ME to McDonalds on a number of occasions when I did not have the "cash" on me.

Well guess what? I had "wracked up" $1,000 with my son. And for his 8th grade graduation, I presented him with $200.00 in cash and a $800.00 Certificate of Deposit, in his name.

My slate is "clean" now, and my boy has suddenly found himself with $800.00 in savings!

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My daughter started working when she was 16 1/2. The day she got her driver's license she went to work for her first day.

A year and a half later, she has matured and has a wider world view. No longer does she only think about dating, music and hanging out with her friends; she comes into contact with all different kinds of people in different situations. Additionally, her confidence as greatly improved.

I'm so pleased she went to work, I wish I had been allowed to!

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My son works up to - but not over- 20 hours a week during the summer. It's his first job, and he hates working but loves the money. I made an agreement with him. He can have half of his paycheck for whatever he wants, but he has to put half in a savings account for things he will need in the future ie: drivers ed., college books, etc.. So far he has put 75% of each paycheck in his savings account and is amazed at how much he has saved. He also has made an array of new friends, people who he wouldn't have met due to shyness, if he hadn't gone to work. For some kids, it's an opening to a world they desperately need to enter into.

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My after school jobs were to supplement my allowance -- 45 cents -- the rule at home was 5 cents times your age! I couldn't even go to the movies! When I had asked my dad for a raise, he'd thought it over for days, and finally tiold me that he couldnt see his way clear to give me a raise. I got the hint and got a job. It was awful. but the money was good!

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I'm 18, graduated high school in 2005, and started working as a sophomore in high school at my uncle's pretzel store. I absolutely loved having my own money and at the time I got to spend it on whatever I wanted because since I was only 15, I didn't have gas or insurance or anything like that. Now that I am 18, I have a different job and make a substantial more amount of money but I have more to pay for. I still live with my mom, but she makes sure I pay for gas, my credit card bill, I paid for my clothes and other desires all through high school. I paid for my own prom dress and most of my graduation expenses (which are very expensive). I feel as though because I've been working so long, I have a good head on my shoulders money-wise. I know how to budget my money and I know how to make it last. I'm currently saving for my car, which I'll probably get in 3 years when I graduate college. Working as a teen is a good idea because it teaches responsibility you just can't get simply by going to school and going home.

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I think it is a good idea but the hours should be limited. I remember one year my 16 year old daughter was working at a fast food place. She woke up one morning very sick with a severe hoarse voice. I called to tell them she was not able to go in and the manager said to me that she had to call in herself. I said to the manager, first of all she is only 16 and that I am her mother and legal guardian. (Her dad was dying from cancer.) Just to make her know I was not lying (which I was livid about) I put my daughter on the phone and she could hardly talk. Then I took the phone back and asked her if she was satisfied. I wanted to pull her from that job, but she wanted to stick it out. She worked there about a year. She is a good money manager, and eventually went on to get her Master's degree but I am not sure that has to do with working or not working. We lived in a small, affluent community at the time but I grew up in an inner city environment. I started working at 16 and in college too but I did it solely for financial reasons. Anyway, I think working made her realize that there all kinds of people in the world.

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I think that it's a great idea for teenagers to work a limited number of hours during the summer. It helps them to understand managing money and responsibility. They should be expected to be responsible for helping but also allowed to use some of the money for personal things---like it is with adults. They need to understand this before being expected to do it themselves when finished with college.

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I'm a junior in high school and I'm gonna start working this summer. Although I am definitely not as experienced and smart as most of you have already been through this, for me personally, I think it is a very good thing. I don't come from a very wealthy family so unless something is an absoslute necessity or very close to it, my parents will not spend money on it. The money I earn working will probably pay for my car, my insurance, and gas for my car so my parents won't have to shoulder the burden by themselves.
Anyways, I think it is stupid not to let your kids work because it is a great thing to learn early, I mean so what if they spend it all on clothes, they still had to earn it themselves and finally realize how hard it is to actually earn it because honestly, speaking as a minor, it is really hard to fathom that money really doesnt "grow on trees" when you have never earned a penny for yourself in your life.

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I worked about 10-15 hours a week in high school to pay for activities my parents couldn't afford, but it didn't keep me from running up a TON of credit card debt in college. I started off fine, always paying off my balance in full each month. But as time went on, I started telling myself "I'll use the credit card to buy stuff so I can enjoy college, and then when I graduate I'll get a good job and pay it off."

I honestly think the issue of whether or not teend should work in high school is completely dependant on the teen. I also don't think there is a definite correlation between working in high school and being financially responsible afterwards... everybody is different!

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I think summer jobs for kids should be based on the kid. One of my sons worked full time from his junior year in high school until he graduated and did very well. My other son can not handle all that work and school. Each child is an individual and parent decisions should be based on that. Handling money is very much a personality trait more then anything else. Savers are born; not made.

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I worked from the time I was 13 at small, local businesses in town. It taught me financial responsibility but more importantly, how to deal with people. There are going to be people you meet in this world you will not care for very much, but you will learn to tolerate them due to the job. You will learn "people skills" and I think that's a very important lesson for kids to learn.

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I have a 17 year old daughter that works full time in the summer and about 12-15 hours a week during the school year. In the summer she helps pay for car insurance, but not during the school year,she takes care of all her expenses, by her choice not mine. She suffers from OCD and this was a way for her to learn how to live with her condition, I helped her get the job (we work for the same company, different locations), but she has earned the repect of her co-workers and bosses on her own. During the school year, she is fortunate enough to work for a company that values education and the idea that teenagers need to e just that so time off is never a problem.

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No, I never had a teen job. Maybe some babysitting here and then. My parents sent me to a college-prep. high school that took up most of my time. I felt that since I went to the school where THEY wanted me to go, I didn't have to work (I wanted a different, closer, quicker education).

Well, because of the excellent eduction, I got a great job.... so it all worked out in the end. To this day, I never regret going the route of my parents.

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I worked as a teen and spent all of the $ as soon as I got paid. But now i manage my money better. It really depends on the individual and how we are and what we learn. Summer job is good for some, Maybe not all but it does help the parent out and that could make all the differnece with single parents and low income.

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I worked before I was "legal" to work, meaning I walked beans (You must live in the midwest if you know what I am talking about), collecting non-taxed income as a preteen. I also worked as a baby sitter in those years before I turned 16.

I pulled as many holiday shifts as I could as a teen because I got double-time instead of 1½ pay for those who worked overtime. I should have saved the money I earned, but living in a larger city made it very easy to spend the money instead of saving for those big-ticket items like college, vehicles, etc. Money flowed through my fingers like water back then.

During summer break from college one year, I worked three different jobs; 5 am cleaning out horse stalls for a local horse farm for 1 to 2 hours, then went home to shower to get cleaned up for the noon shift at a grocery store. I also alternated with work at the local mall in a clothing store which gave me the employee discount on any clothes they sold. You can figure out WHY I had no money saved up once summer ended...

I promised to myself that I would NEVER work that heavy a job load ever again, working the next summer at a children's camp working with horses, teaching kids how to ride, my life's dream job growing up... Thing is, it's a ton of work for someone who doesn't have any childcare education courses to deal with kids' reaction to horses. I survived that summer, and STILL didn't save any of the money I earned then. Money spilled out of my hands again once summer ended, but that was more understandable since I didn't get paid nearly as much money for the work that I did the previous year.

When I first got married, I was the one who did the bookwork for our new family. I was shocked that my husband didn't start working ANY job until after he graduated from his associate degree. His parents figured that he was only a kid once, so they let him soak up those years without chasing that dollar as a youth. I understand now the reasons why they didn't want him to work, but also understand that he missed out on taxable income which is put into SS.

I think I am looser with my money than he is since I have always had "enough" money thanks to working for so many more years than he did growing up. Looking back I wish I would have been more like him since he is basially "stingy" with his $$. The things I spent my money on were tangible items that I can hardly remember now.

Personally I think that our parents both had the right idea, but each child's needs and money "personality" is different, so you have to put that into the equation also.

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our kids cant get jobs all the mexicans took them away from the kids thank you again idiot bush

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