<p>What seems to be the reality here is that kids who worked in high school have been able to come back to their jobs for the summer, presuming the business still exists. Otherwise, they aren’t working. </p>
<p>There just aren’t many businesses here looking to hire kids for 2.5-3 months when there are adults willing to take and keep the jobs. Even seasonal jobs.</p>
<p>Most of my kid’s friends would love to work and are all looking for jobs. I suspect those that aren’t at least looking for work, have generous families.</p>
<p>We struggled with the working issue with my daughter, who will be a freshman this year. There are not many jobs available in this area and she does not need to work, financially speaking. I would like for her to work, but feel a little guilty about her taking a job from another kid who really needs the money. So instead of a job, she is volunteering at a camp for her club sport. Next summer, I hope she will be interning or studying abroad.</p>
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<p>My son is working as a counselor at a camp. Other than the camp nurse and one head counselor running the camp, everyone is under 25 years old (probably under 23).</p>
<p>At my son’s second job, my son is the only college student or adult under 25. Even though they know this is a summer job for him, he had no experience, they do love him. He is reliable and works hard. He has told me that many of the co-workers don’t call in, and don’t show up (it seems to happen often). They are not motivated to keep their job, so I don’t think that they are all ideal employees either.</p>
<p>Great solution fishymom. If my kids weren’t working for pay, I would hope they would be doing something else productive.</p>
<p>Hmm…I wonder if this trend of kids not working AND parents supporting the notion that they don’t have to work is due to the fact that so many current adults are working so hard, so many hours, with so much stress that they look at their kids and say, “enjoy your freedom while you can”. </p>
<p>I don’t agree with that of course, but it may be a factor. </p>
<p>My S did not want to go back to his job at a local golf course. Was sure he was “over” that job and wanted to find something else. We basically told him, “great, go for it and look for another job BUT until you do, you take the golf course job until something better comes up”. Guess what? After many, many applications and not a phone call back, he is SO THANKFUL for his job at the golf course and is working a good amount of hours and picking up extra when he can. </p>
<p>I know he is extremely thankful now for the job he has and sees some of his friends - especially those whose colleges got out later, without any income for the summer. </p>
<p>I don’t know what he would do with all his time if he wasn’t working! I can only stand to see people sleeping so much in my house!</p>
<p>Well, the proof will be in the pudding…</p>
<p>If these same kids don’t put forth much effort **to try **to land a summer internship, community service project volunteer position, or similar once they are in college, then the truth really will be that they don’t want to give up any of their fun time.</p>
<p>We live in a college town, but DD3 goes to school out of state. We moved here after she graduated high school so she had no job here then either. She filled out tons (at least 20) of applications and only one came through, for a summer camp so it is perfect for her. But the local employers flat out said they hire kids who go to the local college and won’t be leaving in August.</p>
<p>When I was a senior in HS, I went to school in the morning and in the afternoon I went to work… It was only because I took so many higher level classes. The guidance councelor at my school gave me a special pass to do so because my mother didn’t want me taking college sophmore level classes. Which I’m glad she didn’t, because I just finished my freshman year at NYU and the classes I took were all easy… I breezed right through. I like a challenge, so I can’t wait for next year 
So encourage your younger children to go all out in HS, it may be hard but it is worth it!</p>
<p>And sorry for barging in, I know I’m not a parent but I thought I could put my two cents into this conversation :)</p>
<p>Plus, my mom and dad told me to get a job or I wouldn’t have spending money during my first year because they weren’t giving me anything. My college tuition was almost 70,000 dollars. It was crazy! But they paid for that and told me that I would have to work for my own spending money. I was one of the very lucky ones, I ended finding a paid internship at Teen Vogue, a fashion magazine. The pay wasn’t amazing but I got through. Some of my friends (the ones who were’nt super rich) ended up going broke, mainly from laziness. Teenagers need to learn that jobs aren’t going to pop up in their faces… they need to go out and do something, and some kids at my school learned the very hard way.</p>
<p>My D works summers at the same grocery store she worked at her last 2 years of HS. Thank goodness for this! Save for one summer working as a camp counselor (loved the kids but no time to practice her instrument and she is a music major) this is an almost FT job she has been able to come back to year after year. That said, this year she has looked high and low for a second job as a waitress or whatever and been turned down everywhere (even in fast food and retail) due to only being available seasonally. Walmart turned her down because they said her job at the small town grocery store (30 miles away) was a conflict of interest.</p>
<p>Where DD claims she has had issues finding work is while at college. This worries me as she is moving off campus this year and will have to budget herself more. I have long since told her we are not responsible for her walking around money. That said, it will be a lot harder to determine what that exactly will be when she is not residing on campus. Her story is that she is not a desirable hire in her college town due to her not living there year round. I am hoping this year, having a local address, she will have an easier time finding something. Really I wonder if in the past she just has not had any motivation to work during the year.</p>
<p>Selfishly, I allowed both my kids to not work last summer between my older daughter’s Freshman and Sophomore year because I knew it would be our last summer together and I was right. We had a lot of family time and traveled a lot, both day trips and full weeks, and it was great. This summer older daughter is in Summer Stock all summer and my younger one, about to enter her Senior year in HS is volunteering as a tour guide. </p>
<p>Families do what they think is best, personally, I don’t think hanging around doing nothing is a good way to spend your summer.</p>
<p>Well, my college is in New York City and you could walk down the street and find a job, even in a hole-in-the-wall place. Maybe for your D it’s just the fact that there really isn’t any jobs that want to hire near her college.</p>
<p>Also, working and going to school can be really stressful at times, and now that I’m entering sophmore year I know it will be even worse. At times I wanted to call my mom and BEG for money, because I had spent my pay on a shopping spree! Stupidest thing I had ever done, and my mom said no because I had to learn. I respected that and survived off ramen for next two weeks. (At least I had cute clothes while doing it) Sometimes you just have to be hard on your children, we are grown men and women (at least we try to think so) We were the ones who begged for freedom, make it a point to tell your “grown men and women” that they have to pull through on there own. I think that experience taught me a lot of things and I’m grateful to my parents.</p>
<p>Some kids have the personality that they have a bit of fear looking for their first job…so it can really help if someone can direct them somewhere that they will have a good chance of getting one.</p>
<p>When my older (shy) son was starting college, I noticed that there was an online app at his school for university-paid tutors. I showed it to him, he filled out the app, and submitted it. He quickly got a phone call saying to come in once school started for an interview…he went and was hired on the spot. He kept the same job for all 4 years in college. </p>
<p>That experience gave him the confidence that he needed. He graduated from college in May and will begin his PhD in August. When he heard about a summer research job he applied for it, but was told that it really was for undergrads only, and he was graduating. But, he sent the lead researcher a nice letter saying that if one of the 20 chosen students were unable to do it, he’d still be available. Sure enough, a week before the research job started, the phone rang and he was offered an open spot. This guy didn’t want to waste time going thru a bunch of old apps when he knew he had one in “waiting” that he could just call and fill the spot.</p>
<p>So…for those who may be shy or self-conscious about looking for that first job…it helps if it’s a new store that needs to hire many people…or if there is the ability to submit an app online…or if someone puts a bug in your ear about some place that is hiring…and it also helps to let the person in charge know that if a chosen person doesn’t come thru, you’ll gladly step right on in. :)</p>
<p>DD had not one but two jobs fall through for the summer. She is volunteering two days a week in a lab (which is costing me for gas and parking) and she is taking a computer language class that is free because I work at the local college.</p>
<p>The up side? While she was searching for a summer job, she happened upon a job at her university for the fall, applied for it, interviewed, and was hired. Hurray. She would not have had time to look for the job for the fall had she gotten one of the other jobs.</p>
<p>Great suggestion, mom2collegekids.</p>
<p>Leisa- Even NYU does not charge 70K for tuition. Total with room and board is around $56K (I’m paying it for my child, so I know). Also, according to my child and her friends, it is really not that easy to “walk down the street and get hired” for jobs. They have tried.</p>
<p>MDmom, my D volunteered at a university lab the summer after her Junior year. It ended up being her paid job whenever she is home. The labs are always looking for trained help.</p>
<p>Regarding babysitting. This really irks me. Both of my daughters (now college grads) have been offered summer babysitting jobs, which they took, so then did not look elsewhere for jobs. D1 worked about two weeks, then the mother decided she couldn’t afford a babysitter, and decided to let the oldest (about 11 years old), look after the two younger ones; so daughter was out of work, two weeks into the summer and was not able to find anything else.</p>
<p>D2 has twice been hired for summer babysitting jobs; four summers ago, again, she worked for about two weeks, then the mom made arrangements with another mom so she didn’t have to pay so much. This summer, she was offered four weeks, three days a week, and both last week and this week, they have cancelled as they made other arrangements. We’ll see if they use her for next week and the following. So D2 did not go out and look for other jobs. At this point, since she’s a college grad and won’t be going back to school come August, I’ve advised her to just hold tight. A lot of restaurant openings will come up when students start to return to school (her goal right now is to just earn money so she can relocate in a year) and she’s in a production right now that requires evening rehearsals. </p>
<p>I just don’t get these moms who hire kids, taking them out of the work force, then decide not to use them when they make different arrangements, which then basically takes the kid out of the summer work force as all other possible jobs are now taken. What’s even more awkward is that this last family is friends of ours.</p>
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<p>I am at NYU over the summer and when I was buying a pair of pants, I asked if they were hiring, they said yes. Filled out a quick application and two days later, I was offered the job. </p>
<p>Do I need the job? Not at all, but I like the 50% discount!</p>
<p>Chiming in again- We are putting 4 kids thru college; 2 already thru, 1 is 1/2 way, and 1 to go. Financially, we need them to help out with spending money, but they all have taken on jobs on their own. It was easier for our older two to find jobs as the economy was better then (they are 26). Our junior in college worked for a high end bakery in high school, and then last summer took on a second job in a retail store, where she also gets 40% off (it is an expensive store so even w/ the discount it is still expensive!) -she is a clothes horse so it helps. She ended up quitting the bakery finally. She has been very lucky in that the retail store has brought her back to work over Christmas and then again this summer. There is no question it is very difficult for kids to find jobs right now- I notice our Vons has recently hired two men in low level jobs, who look like they are in their 60’s- I think that is becoming more common, and is leaving little for younger people. While I think it is good for kids to work and earn some of their own money, there are other ways to learn responsibility such as volunteering, or even working around the house. For those kids who do not need to work financially, it is a personal decision, and we know kids who contribute to their families in other ways. </p>
<p>I guess I am amazed at kids we know who have never held any paid job or internship, or volunteered much and as a result have no idea how to go about looking for a job or what is expected in a job when they graduate. We also hear a lot of counselors say that the jobs in high school and college should be to get good grades; that is all well and good, but I don’t think the two are exclusive. I really do think that working a bit helps prepare kids for the “real world”. Our oldest son is now a successful working engineer, however I would NEVER hold his college path to get where he is now up as an example of how ANYONE should go. He was our “difficult” kid; didn’t like high school and barely scraped by- I think he had 1 extra credit when he graduated. Decided to move out when he was going to local CC because he didn’t like our rules. We told him we’d pay for school but no living expenses. He started getting odd jobs in construction and worked more than he went to school (would start off with 18 units then end up with 6, and get B’s and C’s), but did support himself. He worked laying floors, pouring concrete, installing lifts on cars, as a snow board instructor…you get the idea, but mostly construction. He went to 4 different CC’s that we can remember. We never voiced it to him but we never thought he would finish college. Then all of a sudden at 21, something clicked. He finished up at CC with mostly A’s his last 2 semesters, transferred to a 4 year and finished with mostly A’s in Construction Management Engineering at 24 years old. He got the departmental scholarship his senior year, and also an internship with a very large company. They ended up hiring him full time after graduation and he has been promoted twice since. They later told him that the thing they loved most about him was all of his hands-on experience in construction. He was the only one they interviewed who could tell them in detail how to build things. It’s kind of funny looking back, because he is the kid we would have said was going no-where with his life. I guess my point is that because of all of his work experience, he was able to land a great job over kids from much more respected programs and with better grades. Just one way jobs can help…</p>
<p>Mono - It might be different in the summer. Or perhaps it is because D never has any money to shop where they would hire her :).</p>
<p>Teri - I’m guessing that those young moms never even think about how hard it is for these students when they back out. It is very unfortunate, though.</p>