Jobs for 16 year olds / places that hire 16 year old's?

[quest51210]

the kid i mentor works 40+ hours a week and graduated with a high average. so did i, and many other like me. i dont see how this is an issue.

[fierce_flawless]

Originally Posted by quest51210

the kid i mentor works 40+ hours a week and graduated with a high average. so did i, and many other like me. i dont see how this is an issue.

Good for you.

It is not ideal and to pretend it is ideal is kind of crazy. If it were ideal, there wouldn't be laws in many states limiting the amount of hours a teen can work when school is in session.

I know my son's limitations. He has ADD, he has some learning disabilities in math, he has to put in a lot of effort to keep his grades up in certain classes, while others are a breeze for him. Those certain classes require a lot of time though. He also has a lot of special projects he's working on for his art class that will go in his portfolio, and it is very important to him as he hopes to get into art school. He has responsibilities at home as well... I'm not raising a boy who can't cook or clean or do laundry.

Because school is sometimes a struggle for him, I worry about him starting to work and eventually deciding that work is easier and more instantly gratifying. I am probably projecting some because I did exactly that in high school... and ended up dropping out to chase the almighty $$. Huge mistake.

Furthermore, the time will come soon enough where he is an adult and has no choice but to work like a dog. He's only a kid once. Why start now?

Point is, despite all the people out there who worked 40-plus through high school and graduated at the top of their class, who worked 40 plus through college while carrying an 18-plus hour course load, everyone is different and it isn't quite that simple for others and why make it the case if it isn't absolutely necessary?

I bow to their awesome-ness but for some, too many things to focus on just means that something suffers in the end. School, or work, or family.

I was raised by a woman who did everything awesomely and all at once. fvocational School at night, work 60 hours a week and worked rotating shifts, room mother, PTA, baked cookies, dance team mom, sewed my prom dress from scratch (after making the pattern) and all my clothes before that when I was little, always kept a spotless house, painted and sold her work, every meal from scratch, and so on. It wasn't until I realized that I was NOT a copy of my mother that I began to have some self-esteem and began to appreciate that while I wasn't like her, I was good at other things and strong in other ways.

[quest51210]

I was ADD, work taught me more about myself and my limitations than school did. I learned to work in both environments and cross referenced each other whenever possible. restricting him only keeps him in a shell. coming from an ADD kid, it might be the best thing for him to have a little wiggle room from you and school.

[wCat]

I have a pet peeve about labels like ADD. The schools abuse them, parents are frustrated and they do nothing to help a child achieve their potential. My son was also ADD. The WORST thing the school system beat into his brain was "if you don't learn ABC, then you'll FAIL XYZ. I don't know how many teachers counselors, advisors etc said those very words to my son. I was constantly back peddling and trying to erase that kind of thinking from his mind. I have constantly told my son that ADD my be a reason for some learning problems, but it's never an excuse for anything. I don't even like to call it a "disorder"....it's just the way his mind works.....and he's not abnormal. In a different environment he might have thrived.....but what can you do when the system is set up for a "common" denominator? Parents have to be their child's greatest advocate and support.

I have to agree with Quest here that working might instill a higher self esteem in him because he will see that he is rewarded for being responsible, disciplined, ethical and hard working. Those are good qualities for life skills. I understand your point about house chores....you just have to decide what's more important for your son. You're right that he can't do it all.....and he shouldn't have to. He needs to learn the basics to get through life. As his mom, just weigh the pros and cons for him. I see you doing a lot of thinking FOR him....when maybe at 16 it's time to allow him to be part of the decision making. I'm not suggesting to let him loose....just give him some space. If he needs to change buses five times, that's all part of the responsibility....but before you blow that suggestion out of the water, you need to find out exactly what the bus schedule would be.

I think Paka is gracious to offer odd jobs for him...and that might be a good start....but soon enough he needs a taste of the real world. And treading lightly here.....if his appearance is radical, you might want to guide him in that area. This is also coming from a mom who had a son go through a "crazy" experimental phase (no details needed). If he want's to open doors, his appearance is the only chance he has to make a first good impression. That was a tough one for my son....but they do eventually "get it".

If you live anywhere near any of the college campuses, check out some of the mom and pop shops....bakeries, postal stations, restaurants...etc. They often like to work with young people and 16 is fine with many of them.

Good luck!

[fierce_flawless]

I know what the APPROXIMATE bus schedule and travel time is like to get from here to Fiesta Texas from where we live, that's why I blew "that suggestion out of the water". No, I didn't know exact time/number of buses but I knew it was far. We are pretty well versed in Via Via and how long it takes to get around, and pretty right on when we need to guesstimate getting from A to B. But, just to be certain, I looked it up.

It's a matter of simple logistics; he gets out of school at 4:15. He would catch a bus from school out that way at 4:30, almost every route to FT takes an hour and a half which puts him there at 6:00, let's say he leaves to head home at 9 (assuming he could get a 3 hour shift), he won't be off the bus until 10:30. Not much time left for homework or a shower or anything else. That's IF he could get a 6 to 9 shift in the 1st place. Possible, but highly unlikely. Pretty much what I figured when I made that comment, based on where his school is and where we live. This might be acceptable to others and that's fine but it's not okay with me to have my 16 year old out on foot in SA at 10:30 at night and going straight from school to work daily and coming home 10:30 or 11 when he has to be up the next day by 7:00 and still has homework, a shower, and will probably want to eat was well, putting him in bed after midnight for sure.

And, you can call me overprotective all you want, but he had some crazy guy who cussed at him and threatened to KILL him on the bus last year, with his little brother along, on a bus full of people...all because he relocated to a different seat, (in trying to be NICE), when the guy wanted to sit down and the guy took offense to this, accused him of being "too good to sit by me" and started ranting like a lunatic. They no longer take the bus home from school after this incident (which I didn't find out about right away, unfortunately). I know he'll still need to ride the bus and that's a fact of life, but I'd rather he keep it limited to shorter trips and not that late at night.

So, I had pretty darn good reasons for knowing that the Fiesta Texas idea was only going to work for him if he got weekends only when I made that comment.

I must say it's exhausting to have every thread here turned into a parenting thread. As I said, I see nothing bizarre or unusual about putting some limits on my 16 year old's work schedule, nor was I looking for info on why he should work more hours (!?)... and that's all that needs to be said about that really.

I appreciate the responses as to places that hire at 16 and personal sharing of knowledge about places that will keep a student's hours reasonable. Thank you.

[sapphire]

Just a thought, but maybe there is too much info in your posts. I think if you simply said "hey, does anyone know who hires 16 year olds?" the number of opinions would be severely reduced. When you put it all out there, it's human nature for people to give advice, solicited or not.

Once you get some suggestions, do with them what you will. They may be of some value to others reading the thread.

[quest51210]

i was ADD, but had a 154 IQ. never was a problem for me.

[fierce_flawless]

Originally Posted by sapphire

Just a thought, but maybe there is too much info in your posts. I think if you simply said "hey, does anyone know who hires 16 year olds?" the number of opinions would be severely reduced. When you put it all out there, it's human nature for people to give advice, solicited or not.

Once you get some suggestions, do with them what you will. They may be of some value to others reading the thread.

Maybe people need to restrain themselves a bit when responding? Especially when venturing into "well why can't your son work 40 a week?" and so forth is specifically taking the thread away from the original topic? I didn't say "I think my son's working too many hours.. what do YOU think a high school kid should work?"

For example,when someone posted about sod, and mentioned a sloping lawn, I gave a brief suggestion about ground cover as an option. I didn't go off into a big post about the evils of having grass-heavy lawns in an area with recurring water issues. I didn't admonish them to Xeriscape. Could have, since it is my personal belief that grass lawns are wasteful... but I didn't, because they didn't ask, and so I kept it short and sweet and relatively on topic. Minus the lecture. It's really a matter of manners. And the TOS.

To get the info I was seeking, I couldn't just say "Who hires 16 year olds?" Part of my question specifically pertained to finding places that would allow my son to work FEWER hours than he was currently working, therefore I felt that bit of info was necessary. It's not exactly putting it all out there. I didn't just need to know who hired 16 year olds (obviously since he has a job he's already found one place like that), but also what places were better about hours and school schedules, and because I asked that specific question I got some feedback from those who had direct experience in that issue (the HEB suggestion for one)...

Also, I thanked the person suggesting FT and thought perhaps my son could do it on weekends. It's not like I said "Well that's a dumb idea!! Next!"

I can see expecting some un-asked for commentary, if I'd come here saying "My son is 14 and I'm letting him quit school to get a job so he can pay the bills while I sit and watch Jerry Springer.. what places hire 14 year olds???" or something else that was questionable, or harmful for my son. This was not the case.

And one final thing for quest; if you have an IQ of 154 you should know that high IQ does NOT guarantee school success or anything else for that matter. My brother has an IQ of 160 and he is in prison. My ex's IQ is even higher and he is the poster child for life failure. It's irrelevant in this discussion. But again, I'm glad it's all gone so well for you. Sincerely.

Again, I thank all who gave places and shared their experiences with these places of employment.

[sapphire]

Of course, of course.

[Bo]

OP is happy, so this seems like a good place to end the discussion in this thread.