Future Training for the “Real World,” Finding Summer Jobs for Your Teens April 20, 2008
Posted by artinshamrocks in Parenting Teens.Tags: jobs, Parenting Teens, teens
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Summer is almost here and many teens and maybe their parents are dreaming of the perfect summer job to make a little pocket money. Young adults learn valuable lessons from their first job including learning to manage money, being more responsible, improved self esteem developing much needed time-management skills and learning to work well with others. Many summer jobs turn into part time employment when school starts again and all these work experiences add to their future resumes and college applications.
Many parents are justifiably concerned about job related risks such as accidents, sexual harassment, hostile co-workers, managers or even customers. But for most teens-and their parents-the payoffs of working far out-weigh the risks.
Help your teenager get the most from a summer job by being aware of these helpful strategies:
1. Establish parental ground rules early-decide how much your child can work and when you can expect him home. Young teens should not be working late hours or be left alone in a store to lock up. Be sure you communicate with your teen and possibly his employer about what you expect. Pay attention to your gut feelings if something doesn’t seem right. There are also child labor laws to know about. Go to YouthRules for specifics in your state.
2. Encourage your teen to ask questions-young people often hesitate to ask questions of their bosses because they are afraid they’ll appear dumb. Sometimes teenagers feel like they already know the answers or know how to do something and they don’t. Also you child may not be totally confident speaking to other adults. You can help them with this by role playing a situation where you act like the boss or customer. This will empower your child to speak up.
3. Ask questions yourself-use leading questions such as “Have your responsibilities changed since you started the job?” Parents need to know if a teen hired to bus tables is now running a slicing machine or working with hot oil. Also have conversations about what they like about their job and what they don’t because you will learn a lot from what they say.
4. Help your teen decide how to act and what is appropriate behavior for them and their employers-unfortunately sexual harassment is common. In a recent study of 400 teen boys and girls over 35% said they had been sexually harassed on the job.
A summer or part time job can be a wonderful thing and help your child mature into a responsible adult but parents much still keep their eyes and ears open for possible problems.
