Teens and work
Parent Spot for Parents of High School Students

Another part of you just wants your teenagers to devote themselves solely to the schoolwork, sports and the incredible number of activities that will help them become better-educated and more well-rounded adults.

Walking a fine line

If you feel your instincts warring within you, you’re not alone. Susan and Tom Price, authors of "Is Little Rob Ready for Work?" a series of articles found on the web site www.familyeducation.com, point out that working can give a student confidence, work skills, adult supervision after school, and perhaps improve their grades. "Studies find that students who work a moderate amount–no more than 10 to 15 hours a week during the school year–tend to earn higher grades than those who don’t work at all," the Prices write.

More than 15 hours, though, starts to lead to problems. A 1998 report by the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine shows that students who worked 15 hours a week during the school year had lower grades, higher dropout rates, and were less likely to go to college.

Cindy Bond, editor-in-chief of Family Education Today, said that when teens work 20 hours or more a week during the school year– which apparently about half of U.S. high school seniors do –they sacrifice sleep and exercise, spend less time with their families and cut back on their homework. Not exactly habits you want your kids picking up for the rest of their lives.

Summer jobs seem to not raise the same concerns as school-year jobs but do bring up their own questions. Are some jobs better than others? Can my child find a job that might start him/her down a career path? Are internships worthwhile?

YES. Some jobs should be avoided because they pose a danger to teens. It’s always good if teens can match a summer job with potential career interests. If families can afford to not have their teens earning money, an unpaid internship, say at a hospital, could give them experience they could later parlay into a good job.

Finding the right job

A good place to start looking for jobs is the school’s guidance department. Newspapers, want-ads and word-of- mouth also lead kids to appropriate jobs.

In today’s wired world, online resources abound. The chamber of commerce and individual businesses often have job listings. To get to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ page matching school subjects to future careers, visit http://stats.bls.gov.

(The article above was prepared with the assistance of 2000 The Learning Network Inc. All rights reserved.)

The laws regarding teenage work

• 12- & 13-year-olds can hand harvest fruits and vegetables for 4 hours per week.

• 14- & 15-year-olds can work for 3 hours on a school day and 8 hours Saturday, Sunday, and holidays, up to an 18-hour work week. From June 21 until Labor Day, they can work between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

• At age 16, teens can work 4 hours per day Monday through Thursday, and 8 hours per day Fridays, weekends or holidays. They can work 28 hours per week, between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. With parental permission, they can work until midnight Friday and Saturday.

• All teens must obtain working papers from their school district, which employers must keep on file and on premises. To obtain working papers, teens must have a parent’s written permission to work, proof of age, and a certificate of physical fitness.

• No minor can work in the construction industry, and teens are not permitted to operate machinery that could prove dangerous, including trash compactors, cardboard crushers, and lifting or hoisting machines.

• Teens must be paid.

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