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Most kids who still live at home do not take work all that seriously. When I worked at 16, I didn’t take it as a serious career move it was just something I did for extra money. I can’t say I really cared all that much how good of a job I did. And that was in the 70s.
I guess it depends on the teenager's home life. My family was VERY strict. So I worked like a dog in every teenage job I had, so that I could save up money and move out. (What derailed it by over a year was me buying a cheap car, in order to improve my dating life.) When I moved from my parents' house in the suburbs to an apartment with roommates in the city, I got rid of my car shortly later, and made do with public transit until college graduation.
For several years after college, due to using the CTA so extensively, I had all the routes within a 10-mile radius memorized.
I guess it depends on the teenager's home life. My family was VERY strict. So I worked like a dog in every teenage job I had, so that I could save up money and move out. (What derailed it by over a year was me buying a cheap car, in order to improve my dating life.) When I moved from my parents' house in the suburbs to an apartment with roommates in the city, I got rid of my car shortly later, and made do with public transit until college graduation.
For several years after college, due to using the CTA so extensively, I had all the routes within a 10-mile radius memorized.
I understand it’s individual. I just wanted to point out that it’s not just this generation of kids. People sometimes post things that imply the current generation is somehow “worse” than we were, or we were better, but I don’t think that’s fair or accurate.
I understand it’s individual. I just wanted to point out that it’s not just this generation of kids. People sometimes post things that imply the current generation is somehow “worse” than we were, or we were better, but I don’t think that’s fair or accurate.
Something that I find interesting that has changed since we were kids is the type of jobs. Or at least around where I grew up. Most teen jobs were agricultural. Other than that was bagging groceries and working the counter at fast food. Very few teens worked retail. That was adult careers because retail required knowledge and skill beyond what a typical teen had. They had to know the product; know customer service; and know how to deal with adult customers. At 17 they could start working in the mill.
Today it seems a lot of teens work retail. But adult wage earners are bagging groceries and working fast food. I'm going to be up front and say that most teens in retail don't have the knowledge or skills to do a good job at that type of work. Or at least if retail includes customer service in the task. Sure, they can run a price tag through a scanner and hand back the change the machine tells them, but very few can actually understand a customer's needs and guide them toward a good product. Not the kid's fault. They just don't have the experience yet to do it.
Something that I find interesting that has changed since we were kids is the type of jobs. Or at least around where I grew up. Most teen jobs were agricultural. Other than that was bagging groceries and working the counter at fast food. Very few teens worked retail. That was adult careers because retail required knowledge and skill beyond what a typical teen had. They had to know the product; know customer service; and know how to deal with adult customers. At 17 they could start working in the mill.
I doubt many 17 year olds were working in mills. My father started working in a factory at 17 but it was against the rules. He dropped out of high school at the beginning of his senior year of high school. He would not turn 18 until January. He was able to stall the personnel department every time they asked for his birth certificate. He finally gave it to them after he turned 18. This was 1951.
Regarding jobs, the town where is grew up had very few jobs. We didn't even have a McDonalds until after I graduated from high school. I was happy to get a newspaper route in 9th grade where I made less than $10/week. That was 1969. I also mowed grass for between $1 and $4 per yard.
I doubt many 17 year olds were working in mills. My father started working in a factory at 17 but it was against the rules. He dropped out of high school at the beginning of his senior year of high school. He would not turn 18 until January. He was able to stall the personnel department every time they asked for his birth certificate. He finally gave it to them after he turned 18. This was 1951.
Regarding jobs, the town where is grew up had very few jobs. We didn't even have a McDonalds until after I graduated from high school. I was happy to get a newspaper route in 9th grade where I made less than $10/week. That was 1969. I also mowed grass for between $1 and $4 per yard.
Where I grew up it wasn't uncommon. State law allowed, if I recall, 4 hours per day on school nights and all day on Saturday as long as they were in school until 2 during normal school days. They could check out of school last period if they had a job.
For a significant number of kids it was the beginning of their career with the mill company. Most people in that town worked for the mill. Dads, moms, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins. Those communities were devastated when the mills shut down. Town where I grew up is practically a ghost town now. Still own the house and land, but can't sell it for anything.
I wouldn't say all teens that just entered the workforce are clueless. This past weekend a teenager rung me up at the grocery store, and I began to bag my items since he didn't have a bagger with him. He looked up at me and said, "No need to bag sir! I can do it for you once I'm done ringing you up." I smiled and said, "No worries bud, you're by yourself and I don't mind." He goes, "No please, I insist! I just got done ringing you up so I'll do it now!" That kid bagged the rest of my groceries so fast, that I barely had time to blink by the time he took some additional coupons for me and said I could swipe my card.
He was no older than 17, and was fast, efficient, polite, and had a great attitude. Some teens do look lost or aren't much help in a store, but it's not always because they don't care. For some of them, it's a brand new job, and they're still learning. Joining the workforce for them is new enough; it takes time for some to get the rhythm. My Dad always told me you don't have to wait until you're 16 to start working. People need snow shoveled and their lawns mowed, so go out and see if you can make some cash. And I did once I turned 13. My first "real job" when I was 16 was quite an experience.
I got the job through my guidance counselor, and it was for a company that inserted barcodes and labels on boxes for books on CD for libraries throughout the US. I learned simple things like clocking in and out, learning the difference between net pass and gross pay, opened up a savings account, and learned a lot about how shipping packages work. In my senior year of high school, I took a marketing class, which not only taught me how marketing works, but how to apply for jobs correctly (not half-assing the application), how to type up a resume and cover letter, how to conduct an interview, and much more. I also took a consumer math class which taught me how paychecks work and how they're broken down, how to write checks and balance a checkbook, how to fill out W-2 forms, etc.
It all boils down to the teen, his or her parents, and the will to learn. By the time I was ready to graduate high school, I was working two jobs, and never needed money from my Dad. I will always be grateful for getting ahead of my friends and peers before graduating high school, since a lot of them struggled once we were out.
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