<p>Ha ha rorosen that makes me a true aged crone. I have always wanted to be a sibyl...</p>
<p>And I think even in my insight I can't spell privilege....</p>
<p>Alu:
I agree with you completely.</p>
<p>some girls just cant take a compliment(pretend pouty face)</p>
<p>how about oracle? a sibyl wanders but an oracle stays in one place. do you like caves? I recall you grew up with privi-ledge,..</p>
<p>so, you refused to sleep with Apollo,..any regrets?
you might have slathered on the SPF to prevented unwanted sunburn.
The ancient Greeks used olive oil. However, this was not very effective.</p>
<p>I have to go wax my chariot, said the Sun God</p>
<p>Oops. I only read as far as the <em>lived in a cave and threw her prophesies to the wind</em> part....</p>
<p>when next you encounter a god, do read the fine print.</p>
<p>and kids, when you sign up for a job, you too should read the fine print and show respect for your employer((bringing it back on track))</p>
<p>I agree that "school is their work" so that they are eligible for merit scholarships if possible..
if you want him to have the experience of working, this summer will be soon enough
I worked every summer and during the school year from 16 on, through college..and I got very burned out trying to do all that and high level academics..and this was back in the day, when we had much less stress than our kids do
also if finaid is on the table, a good per cent of the money the student earns is put right back into the EFC</p>
<p>i've had a part-time job essentially since sophomore year of high school. personally, i couldn't love anything more. the intangible things i've learned from a job, like being reliable and dependable, adapting to others' needs, gaining a perspective on what real adults do in real life, and learning a new trade (i waitress during the summer and bus tables or work as a cashier at a different place during the winter) have been amazing. i can confidently say that some of the friends i've made at work are the best i've ever had. </p>
<p>i know your son is already into college, but even as an extracurricular a job looks fantastic. it shows a level of maturity and responsibility that not many high school kids share. if nothing more, it shows that he is willing to work hard for something he needs (ie, income). </p>
<p>if i were you, i would encourage him to get a job. a part time job is no more demanding (at least for me) than an extracurricular. he will benefit way more from having a job (even an easy job, like bussing tables or working in a library) than he will from sitting at home and watching tv or otherwise 'relaxing.' if he wants time to relax, encourage him to find a job that he enjoys that has a leisurely pace. </p>
<p>if your son has been this successful up until now, i can only imagine how much he will achieve after some real world experience. best of luck to both of you! -kristin</p>
<p>Stop giving him money for his "free time" activities and he'll want a job.</p>
<p>Three points</p>
<p>Working in a library is not always an easy job. What does that mean anyway? Physically or mentally unchallenging? I take offense at the latter. humph! </p>
<p>OP's son's football season is way over for this year, so can't use that EC as a time-taking excuse anymore.</p>
<p>OP never said that her son spent any time lazing around of playing video games. Those are posters conjectures. With an excellent gpa and challenging classes, we might be talking of just a few hours a night to relax. That's what most of us expect after the end of a long day....</p>
<p>
[quote]
Stop giving him money for his "free time" activities and he'll want a job.
[/quote]
This would have puzzled my D, who most likely would have asked, "What means 'free time'?"</p>
<p>Kristin5792 - Nice post. I couldn't agree with you more. :)</p>
<p>I think anyone would agree that a paying job is good if the kid wants to do it and can fit it into his/her schedule and still has some down time to relax. Most of us need some of that; some of us need more than others or we get rundown, sick, over-stressed, etc. My parents' approach was that education was the job of childhood. We didn't have a lot of extra income but they gave us small allowances and anything above that we would be expected to earn. I'm a pathologically disorganized person who would not have been able to do well on schoolwork and work at a paying job. </p>
<p>With our son, we don't expect him to get a paying job during the school year, and during the summer we have too many family travels and activities to make it feasible. He did recently take on a 2-day job at a fair (food service) to help out a friend, did fine and rather enjoyed it, so I know he can do it if he has to. Of course, this was during the time period when I thought every spare moment should be spent on college apps! He's a frugal kid; I would expect him to work if he wanted luxuries. And he's a high-performing student; I'd probably see things a lot differently if he was slacking.</p>
<p>I agree with the posters who've said we have our whole lives to work. If you really need them to help financially or with housework, of course they need to do it. I don't think, though, that I'm raising a kid without character or a work ethic because I don't insist he work a paying job. I like that he has some time to write a poem, contemplate his navel or doodle around on the computer (something I would NEVER waste time on myself!). But if I needed help, I'd expect him to hop to it.</p>
<p>DS did not work during the school year at all. He simply had too many conflicts to make that possible (evening and weekend events...music related which is his college major. In summers, he went to summer music programs. He was fortunate to find a very understanding employer after his senior year in HS who gave him a job and actually supported his NOT being there for five weeks of the summer. He still works for that place when he is here and they have been wonderful. DD also had similar weekend and evening commitments but she was fortunate to land the job as the student morning receptionist at her school and had that job for three years (10, 11, 12). It was only 40 minutes a day, and paid minimum wage, but it fit into her schedule and she loved doing it (also gave her a parking space for free in the teachers' lot, and a permanent "bye" on homeroom for three years....since she was making the announcements anyway). She got her first paying job the summer after 11th grade, part time only and was also gone for several weeks (gee, my kids were lucky). After 12th grade, she worked full time that summer. Both kids work in college and both have said that working actually HELPS them manage their time. They each work about 8-10 hours a week. We did make it clear to both of them that they were responsible for ALL spending money in college, including books, and they would need to earn enough to cover those costs. When I was in HS (back when the dinos roamed), my parents would not allow me to work during the school year. They felt my "job" was to get decent grades in school. I also never worked during school, and my first "paying job" (I had been a CIT at a camp...no pay for that) was the summer after my senior year in high school.</p>
<p>Your son sounds wonderful; I think you are being unreasonable. Other paretns have said it eloquently.Your son seems to be great at what I woudld consider to be his primary job.</p>
<p>You son doesn't have an attitude that will help him later in life. He shouldn't be the one telling you guys that just because he gets good grades, that you guys shouldn't make him get a job. Soon he will be saying that he should not have to do chores, and it will just continue. He is not going to school for you guys, he is going to school for himself, or at least he should be. Even though he shouldn't be forced to work, I think you need to fix his attitude.</p>
<p>It is not too early to start putting out feelers for summer positions. The more interesting jobs are filled more quickly.</p>
<p>My D didn't work during the AY except for babysitting throughout hs and working as a Page as a junior. She was too busy with Scouts, athletics, etc. Ever since she was 16, she did have a full-time summer position. She could have worked at 15 as a lifeguard but instead got accepted to a month long program and basically was only free for 2 weeks before preseason XC practices started in August.</p>
<p>I can understand the frustration of seeing such a "wonderful" kid with all kinds of free time doing nothing....if he was exercising, had some sort of motivation, even volunteering...but if he is just hanging out most of his free time, and the OP says he has alot....</p>
<p>Rick, the OP's son strikes me as someone who deserves a little unstructured down time. He's done well in the mini rat race and is about to be thrust into the medium rat race. I would have wished for some down time for my D during junior & senior years but it wasn't happening unless someone pried the pointe shoes from her cold, dead fingers.</p>