<p>Where I live, we had a large snowstorm mid-week, and yesterday my husband and I (and our teenage daughter) found ourselves outside for several hours, digging out our cars and shoveling the sidewalks in our townhouse community. Naturally, residents all up and down our street were outside, doing the same. At one point, my husband leaned on his shovel and looked around and said “Look at this: it’s pretty much all adults doing the shoveling. Where are all the teenagers? Specifically, where are all the teenage boys?”</p>
<p>When we were teens, parents made the teens of the house (especially boys, though maybe that’s sexist) go out and clear the sidewalks, driveways, cars, etc. Nowadays, it’s difficult to find teenagers who are willing to do these chores (shoveling, cutting the grass, raking leaves and even babysitting) for spending money.</p>
<p>Have we spoiled our kids so much that they aren’t willing to work for a little extra cash?</p>
<p>My teenage son has been helping his dad shovel out through every one of our recent storms. Last year,too. Plus, he’s shoveled on his own, when dad wasn’t home, so dad would have a clean driveway in which to park. He doesn’t have to be asked (or told). He also sleeps late and goes on facebook. Our neighborhood is full of neighbors with snowblowers (not us), and they don’t seem too keen on letting teenagers use them. A group of young men with snow shovels stopped at our next door neighbor’s house hoping to score a job, but they were sent away. I don’t think that adults trust teenagers to do a good job.</p>
<p>When I was growing up, the neighborhood parents had a pretty strong pact going: all of the kids over about 9 got sent out anytime there was a snowfall with instructions to shovel each of the elderly neighbors’ sidewalks, front walks, stairs, and walkway to the trash can. One of the older widows was really nice, and always had hot cocoa and homemade cookies for us. We didn’t get paid, and weren’t asked if we wanted to do it. </p>
<p>It wasn’t a bad system. Shoveling snow with six or seven other kids from the neighborhood makes it all go pretty fast.</p>
<p>My husband and I were just discussing this last night. We rarely see anyone walking around with shovels looking for jobs anymore. People have hired private plows to do their driveways or have snowblowers. I have often thought that teenageboys (I have none left at home anymore :() could make a ton of $ shoveling, but perhaps not given what we’ve observed lately.</p>
<p>Same in our neighborhood - lots of adults out in their driveways with shovels, a few adults with snow blowers clearing everyone’s sidewalks, only a few teens, and they are busy dragging sleds to the nearest hill. (My own used to help, but we are now empty nesters.) I would have no problem paying teens to shovel out our driveway, but there are no takers.</p>
<p>Snowblowers rock! H often does a couple of neighbors near us (single women) if he has the time - we have tons to shovel/blow but they have standard driveways and a little strip of sidewalk in front so it’s easy to help them out (as opposed to our double lot - on the corner - with regular long driveway AND a circular drive!). </p>
<p>Maybe once a winter I see kids out. But no one probably knocks on our door cause our property would be too much work!</p>
<p>Several bands of guys (not teens), mostly immigrants, walking around out neighborhood yesterday looking for shovelling jobs. Most of us have snowblowers, but my pregnant neighbor hired the first group. Most teens were out helping their families - with 20" and 100+’ driveways, all hands were needed. (I did give my D a pass, it was her birthday!)</p>
<p>In my area, the kids are often part of a volunteer group that matches a young person with a senior citizen, and the teenager (they must be 13) is then responsible for the senior citizen’s shoveling for the entire winter. It’s a pretty successful program. As for roving shovelers, what has been happening here is that groups of young, immigrant men have been going around and demanding money to shovel. My door got banged on the other night at 1 am by a group wanting to shovel. My dog made them seek other options.</p>
<p>They’re the same teens who also don’t go around looking for yard work to do for extra money. I’ve never had a neighborhood teen come by the house offering to do yard work (not a lot of snow shoveling here!) to earn some extra money. The only people I’ve had come by looking for this type of work are illegal aliens (who are usually knocking at least weekly) and occasional yard businesses. However, I still do all the work myself.</p>
<p>These teens aren’t busy deliver newspapers either since what few people still receive a paper seem to have them delivered by someone driving a vehicle.</p>
<p>When I was a kid I did yard work, shoveled snow, washed cars, delivered papers, and did a bunch of other jobs. A 25 cent allowance didn’t go far and needed to be supplemented.</p>
<p>How about because we were forced to walk past the icy snow to get to school at 6:30 AM? It was midterm week for my school, and the school absolutely refused to cancel. I had to get up at like 6AM and walk to snow through all that crap, because our school doesn’t even offer buses to half the students. I would have absolutely no problem helping my parents shovel the snow. It kills me that my mom has to go out there and shovel the snow. Just so she can go to her crappy ass job just to help pay for my future tuition.</p>
<p>Adults are always blaming the societal changes of generation of the ones that are adapting to the change, rather than the agents of the changes itself. What I’m trying to say is, teenagers nowadays are swamped with schoolwork, extracurricular, sports, music, you name it. You think we’re rotting our brains away on Jersey Shore or Facebook, but the truth is, that’s not completely true. I usually stay up all night at least once a week so I can study for the tests in my AP classes. Us teenagers are forced to work harder using our mental strength, rather than our physical strength.</p>
<p>My dad grew up in one of the poorest parts of Korea. He only went to school twice a week, other times he was just helping my grandpa on the farm. Times change. And all you people’s stubborn ignorance to it is utterly disgusting.</p>
<p>I agree that many teens today are busy doing worthwhile endeavors (I know my kids were as teens). But I think the OP was talking of a day that was a snow day in the school system and so kids had SOME free time that day.</p>
<p>Also, Calvin, I will add that I totally get the heavy duty academics with tons of homework and heavy duty ECs. I raised two kids who took the hardest curriculum available and then some, got top grades, were extremely involved in ECs every single afternoon, evening and weekend day. However, even with all that, one of my kids still waited tables on Saturday night to earn money.</p>
<p>Around here the newspapers are delivered by adults driving cars at 6:30 am because we had 2 murders of little boy newspaper carriers some years ago. Just yanked off their bikes by the perverts and then the bodies found a week or two later.</p>
<p>My DH delivered papers as a kid but there is no way I would let my daughters walk around strange neighborhoods looking for odd jobs, today. Even as teens.</p>
<p>Furthermore, Calvin is correct — this is midterm week; on one of the two snowy days the schools did not close and the kids had to slip & slide to get there (for the second one they threw in the towel at 15"), and my D is up till 1:30 nightly doing AP homework – if she goes to sleep earlier she gets up at 3:30 - 4:30 to finish her work. </p>
<p>She did go across the street to shovel out our 86 yr old neighbor. For free.</p>
<p>JRZMom, I don’t think a kid should roam strange neighborhoods looking for odd jobs. But a kid could “advertise” their services in terms of shoveling or lawn mowing to families they already know in the community. Just like babysitting. My kids did babysitting but did not roam the area looking for jobs. They were hired by families who knew them.</p>
<p>Last year, all the kids were home and we had tons of snow. We all had to go out there and tackle something and it was a good way to stay warm since we had lost power.</p>
<p>This last storm though, the older two are at college and the younger one is keeping vampire hours so I started it alone. H never gets a snow day (works in a hospital) and he needed to be at work by 7:30. Just after we had finished digging out his car, and digging out the snow the plows had left between their path and our street, I saw two intrepid young men walking down the street with shovels.</p>
<p>Halleluja! It was very heavy wet snow and I gladly overpaid them to do our sidewalk, path to the house, and dig out the other car. They let me set the price and I was just very grateful to them for their service.</p>
<p>Later, I saw two younger boys (middle school age) looking for work and pretty soon they were snapped up by a man who does a lot of yard work in the warmer months and had been hired to clear several sidewalks. I love young entrepreneurs!</p>