The 14 year olds I’ve known have worked as soccer refs, in their parents’ restaurants or as babysitters. They’ve volunteered in their churches’ programs or with summer sports programs or camps for younger kids as coaches/counselors in training. Never heard of a 14 year old “interning” in law or medicine.
14 is just a very hard age to find real jobs for kids over the summer. An internship seems out of place at that age; perhaps someone you know might take him in, but wouldnt that be more like job-shadowing rather than a real internship? The one true super-smarty we know took math classes at local CC during his jr. high summers, but didnt work or intern.
But the neatest thing in our neighborhood: two jr. high bros who started a lawn business. They wear matching shirts, have a social media presence & business cards and do a great job with trimming and edging and blowing; all the while walking around the hood with a matching wagon for their equipment. I’m sure they’ve learned alot over the summer. They work so hard.
My daughter also took the SAT in middle school and qualified for the program. When she was 14 she babysat and tutored a few children. When she was 15 she also became a camp counselor. While being a counselor she actually worked her way up and became the first 15 year old to be a color war captain! My neighbor’s son started some type of snow removal “business” at the age of 14. He is now 22 and won’t work- go figure lol. Our local pet store has volunteering in place for middle school and young HS students. We also have some sort of “youth court” in town that our kids can volunteer in.
I believe that this should come from your son and not from you. If not, HS will be a very long and difficult four years.
If he is 14, you likely won’t find a lot of medically related volunteer opportunities for him.
I would suggest he do something working with people…CIT at a day camp, volunteer at a day care center or a senior center, babysitting.
When he is 16, have him take a lifeguard training course. In many places, he can also take an EMT B course once he is 16.
And I know you don’t want advice about this…but any medically related volunteer things he does in middle school and high school won’t have any impact whatsoever on his chances in medical school. In fact, medical schools don’t even ASK for things that far in the past.
Many volunteer opportunities are not open to kids under 15 unless an adult accompanies the child. My 15 year old earns a bit of summer money doing jobs for the neighbor. In the winter he shovels snow for local people. There are plenty of things a 14 year old CAN do, but I am not thinking internships are one of them. Maybe look for a friend who doesn’t mind your kid tagging along to an office to get an idea of how fun the 9-5 grind will be.
Interning as a dog-walker. Interning as a lawn-mower. Interning as a “I’ll clean out your garage while you’re at work” type of thing.
All of these can be appropriately spun with a little imagination. C’mon CC!
I think it’s pretty unrealistic for posters to think that most 14 year olds are capable of doing the sort of job/internship that the OP is asking for. I know that my shy oldest son found every position he had in high school with my help. As others have noted, without taking advantage of the connections of friends and family it’s really hard to find things for high school students, especially ones under 16. I agree that the Boy Scouts as a structured program is a good start. They will have a set of adults standing by that can help with merit badges. My father-in-law did that as one of his retirement activities. Boy Scouts isn’t for everyone however. My oldest volunteered at the computer lab at the local senior center and helped do some programming for them. (Scheduling for the senior pick up van in particular.) When I was in high school I was able to help out at a DC political magazine - the editor’s kid was best friends with my baby brother. My oldest started working in the computer field by job shadowing my brother - only instead of job shadowing - they put him to work and were so impressed they hired him for real. Often kids this age make up their own jobs. Whether it’s walking dogs, babysitting, or whatever. Our neighborhood advertises a lot of this sort of thing through a site called NextDoor - you may have something similar where you live. There are always flyers in doors.
I’d suggest you call everyone who owes you and ask if your kid can job shadow for a week. A week isn’t long, so it makes it harder to say no. Once there, the kid can make or break the opportunity.
14 y o should pursue his own personal interests. Isn’t he involve with some sport / music / art / whatever? He is too young for the internship and did not reach the “job” age. There is “liability” limits and nobody will break their respective insurer’s rules for a 14 y o while there are plenty of much older and very well qualified applicants, including tons and tons of very high caliber college students.
I totally agree with MiamiDAP!
It is unrealistic to think that your S at age 14 will get any sort of meaningful job.
My daughter has a friend who developed an interest in baking at a young age. She wrote a cookbook and started a baking business in HS from her parents kitchen. She was on one of the cooking shows before graduating.
Your son should do what he enjoys doing, and as I mentioned earlier, it should come from him.
I think mowing lawns, pet sitting, babysitting, camp CIT, volunteer at a daycare are all meaningful.
I just don’t think this kid is going to get a huge internship with some hospital, Doctor, lab or whatever medically related…at age 14.
I don’t think I saw any posters who thought that was possible. Did I miss something?
Perhaps not, but with some good detective work on both your part and his, you two should be able to identify some meaningful experiences that he could participate in next summer. They might include volunteer work, enrichment courses, or possibly paid work at a very introductory level. And don’t overlook the possibility that he could still benefit from specialty summer camps that fit his interest. He’s young enough that there are probably still programs that might suit him.
In my opinion, the way to approach it is the volunteer activity is a natural outgrowth of an interest he has already pursued.
At that age my kids volunteered at a natural history museum. I did not arrange it for them. They needed service hours for school and saw an ad someplace and I took them and dropped them off for the scheduled interview times listed. Later the individual in charge called and asked if I was aware the ad had been aimed at local college students, and I apologized and said “no”" but then she continued she did want my kids to work there and so they did for several years. It was a museum they had been going to regularly since they were toddlers and they knew the collections extremely well. They were allowed to work with graduate students on the collections and they had a wonderful time. Probably staff there recognized them when they went to interview for the volunteer position.
A hospital near me offers a two week summer camp for students interested in medical careers. The campers are able to observe a surgery.
It’s a campaign year. If he’s interested in law, I would suggest he volunteer for either a political candidate running for office (most seem to be lawyers) or for a ballot initiative group. It doesn’t have to be a presidential candidate … there are lots of people running for local legislatures, school boards, judicial seats, etc.
Another option is to be a teen helper for whatever extracurricular activity he already pursues. My 14-year-old is a teen helper in her dance studio. The preschool teacher gets help herding small children, my child gets experience and volunteer hours, and I get a tuition discount. It’s a win-win-win for everyone.
Volunteer work is always good. When I was 14 I volunteered as a candy striper and am now a physician. I would think patient transport is good, seeing what it’s like for patients and gaining empathy for what it’s like to have an acute or chronic illness and how it affects families. The other stuff that comes along with volunteering and that can’t be anticipated is priceless. I landed a volunteer position in Radiology. I’ll never forget the radiologist who asked me if I wanted to be a nurse. At the time, I was too embarrassed to say, “no, a doctor.” But it made an impression on me and I worked hard to prove to him and myself that I was indeed “doctor” material. Any job or volunteer position is going to be meaningful and provide some valuable life long lessons. Just be patient.
At 14 my DD was an assistant coach for the little kid Special Olympics team at her swim team. She made it in to her Girl Scout silver project
In my city, high schoolers as young as freshmen (so, 14/15 year olds) can earn money reffing soccer games on city-sponsored kids’ leagues. They have to take a test on the rules, etc., but I’ve known kids who’ve done it. It’s a good way to put to use all those years of twice-a-week soccer practice and Saturday soccer games.