"The share of teenagers working summer jobs had dwindled for years, but the numbers have come back a bit in the last couple of years. It’s a change applauded by educators and financial advisers alike.
‘Summer jobs are a great idea,’ said Laura Levine, chief executive of the JumpStart Coalition, a nonprofit group that promotes financial literacy. ‘Money management begins with how to get that money in the first place.’" …
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/13/your-money/summer-job-students.html
As a student who has worked all through high school in some way or another, I agree. You can’t just throw money at your kids every time they want to do something. Sorry, but they’re never going to respect your money or even their own money. It’s also important to learn about the workforce, even if you’re just working fast food. A lot of people get these fantasies about working and how they’ll immediately enter a position as the “boss” of the whole place and do fantastic. Working is working, there’s nothing glamorous to it. You’re going to make mistakes sometimes and not like your coworkers and get overwhelmed. This is my first summer working full time at a place that is understaffed and it is EXHAUSTING. I wish I could be at the beach with my friends every day or travel across Europe or go sit at some fancy Ivy, but I made the commitment to my organization to keep going.
I coordinate senior class internships and time after time, people discover they actually hate what they wanted to do for a living or discover what they would previously consider “simpleton” work is their match. If more people got summer jobs in the field they’re interested in (not possible for everyone, obviously, but my friend is interning at an architectural firm because that’s his dream), we’d see more well informed applicants.
I think too many parents are jumping on the “precollege” bandwagon and it’s not a change for the better. Most of my friends who have done precolleges don’t learn a ton of information while there and are completely overwhelmed by the environment. Others find it to be a very “summer camp” environment, which isn’t appropriate for someone who is 15-18 years old (in my opinion). Many often become set on colleges they’d never be able to get into (sorry-- it’s true) because admission to most of these programs is SOOOOO much easier than actual college admission. Like obviously if you spend 15k at NYU all together for four weeks, they’ll let you in the program. You want to do an online class through Brown? Basically just pay the program fee. It’s mostly just to pay professors who want a boost in summer income. If your student really wants to get more credits for college (which I’ve found to rarely be the case) have them enroll with a nearby state school or community college.
well said