I flipped burgers in high school, and hung around with older employees who weren’t in college but had cool cars. 
Not the best use of a teen’s time. That being said, I would let my child take the job if - and ONLY IF - I was willing to actively monitor what she is doing with her grades, EC’s, test prep, etc.
I never like to squelch a kid’s drive to make money, but we’re still the parents and it’s our obligation to see the big picture as best we can.
Thanks so much everyone for the great feedback. I have no problems with a teen working, but I’m torn because I keep reading about the need to pursue your passions and to have interesting and meaningful ECs, but it’s hard to do that when (in my D’s case) she gets out of school after 4pm every day. I know at many other HS’s they get out around 2:30. I guess she can apply and she can do it if hired as long as the hours are not too much. Maybe she can work on Sundays only!
My D is a current sophomore and has had a job since she turned 16. It’s not a lot of hours but she has enjoyed it and I think it’s been a growth opportunity for her. My older D also had a job throughout high school and it worked out well for her. I have no great insight into it, but I think it can help rather than hinder a college app.
I guess if you look at the job like another extra curricular, and it didn’t eat up all their free time, it could be fine, although it won’t really “feel” like a real job, I suspect. Older D had a possible job lined up for this summer (paid internship to code at a local business), but got into a good summer program so is going there instead. In terms of how jobs vs ec’s look for colleges-that we don’t care much about.
Job is an ECs that teaches them much more than any other ECs. Job is a great responsibility, they are paid for whatever they do. Depending on the future field, a specific job may be also an absolute must as my D’s summers job at the medical Research lab was. She had to have this experience as either intern or a paid employee to have a chance at the programs that she was applying. She got lucky to get a job. We hang to this job really tight, I had to hire a professional private driver few times to get her to her job as both of us were working full time and she also was in her sport in the summers with the practices of 2 / day, so driver had to pick her up from her practice early in a morning and take her to her work. But she worked only in couple of summers. This job also has helped her to find a similar but Intern position (not paid) at college. Her HS experience was essential as the job responsibilities were very close to what she did at college as intern. Without this Intern position at college, she would not have a chance at being accepted to the medical school.
The retail job also may lead to a certain path in a future career, one never knows. Anyway, the kid is interested, let her.
I would limit her to three hours a day maximum, on school days, and preferably have her work on weekends if possible. This might not be possible if she lacks seniority.
With respect to time constraints, I’m extrapolating from my daughter’s afternoon dance schedule, which was 5:15 to 9:15 most school days (including her commute). That gave her a total of about 2.5 hours of homework time in order to get to bed by 10:30, which didn’t always happen. Junior year is very intense above and beyond customary school work and the sleep deprivation can add up.
My D had an intense practice and rehearsal schedule (in music) during HS. She also wanted to work. She got a 20 hour a week job at a large department stores office with the understanding that her academics would not suffer. Strangely enough her grades actually improved since she became really good at scheduling her time. I think it’s one of the best things that she did during HS. When she went for a merit scholarship interview at the school she ended up attending the interviewer mentioned that the most positive aspect of her application was that she had a part time job. She got a $25K per yr offer from that school.
After that experience she never had trouble finding and keeping really good part time jobs through her undergrad and grad years. And now as a performing professional, that sort of time and financial scheduling has really truly paid off. It’s not something you can teach, it’s only something you can learn through experience.
"that sort of time and financial scheduling has really truly paid off. It’s not something you can teach, it’s only something you can learn through experience. " - totally agree 100%. Time management skill is invaluable and highly underestimated by most parents. You cannot learn it by reading the books, you got to live a certain type pf life from as early age as possible to learn it. It is exceptionally valuable for my first year resident who sometime works up to 80 hrs / week.
There is a lot to be learned from having a job. Shouldn’t be any harm in letting her try. I know my daughter gets a lot of satisfaction from earning, saving, and buying something she wants for herself. It’s easy to spend Mom’s money, but now if she wants something I won’t buy (like a $40 lipstick, no way), she thinks about how long it took to earn the money and is it worth it. Is it worth two evenings at work to have this lipstick? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, but it’s worth learning.
It really depends on what her time is like and what her school workload and EC commitment is. If the job includes after school hours, it can be really tough to balance with homework and ECs. If it is at a mall, how will she get there and back? If she has to close, will she not get home until after 9:30 with no homework done? I still think girls can make a good amount of money babysitting. I can’t believe how much these kids get paid. I think they can make as much on a Saturday night as they can in a part-time week of minimum wage at a clothing store.
My kids had ECs and sports that precluded them getting a job except for summers and the spring of senior year (when they all worked). At that point, skipping a club team practice was not that big of a deal, but before that would have been. I think working is great, but I agree that schools and other commitments should come first and they have the rest of their lives to work.
Thanks so much everyone. I just asked her if she still wanted to work and she said, “YES!!!”. I asked her to find out what kind of hours people are expected to work and then she can decide whether to apply. The thing I’m struggling with is that if she gets a pt job she won’t be able to do something else that might help her get into a college, like write for the school newspaper. However, I’m a huge of fan of letting your kids pursue what they want, and I’m happy that she’s actually asking to do something without me making suggestions.
No one has mentioned it, but any thoughts about having her work at that store specifically? We’ve had push back in our area about their marketing (and sales team) focusing on young white size 0. No mediums or large in stock or need apply. A quick Google search shows our area is not alone in these reports.
Friday after school and Sundays would be great days for her to work at the store. It won’t conflict with school and likely, she won’t have practice on those nights. Just a thought. Working is fantastic and the best EC. My son works and does activities and manages his time amazingly well. He loves working - meeting people outside his high school bubble and making money to buy stuff he wants. Its been an amazing experience.
@bhmomma I hear you. That one size fits all is absurd. However, they are one of the few places that hires young teens and it’s where my daughter mainly shops. In all honesty, I’m so grateful she doesn’t drink or smoke anything, she doesn’t say the N word like many of her peers, she supports gay rights and is anti-bullying and is aware of how the media impacts girl’s views of themselves. I can be ok with her working there in the grand scheme of things. She said it’s been her dream to work there since she was in 7th grade. I’ll let her apply and see what happens…I think.
PS- she loves Urban Outfitters and Topshop too, but you have to be over 18 I believe. I wish she would just babysit
Talk about a timely thread-D17 just asked me this morning if she could get a job next fall working at a pet store. I told her we’ll talk about it as a family over dinner tonight because there is one car for two girls (her sister is a year behind her in school), so it affects everyone in the family.
I do worry about her EC’s conflicting with work, and work telling her “show up or you’re fired” when she has a mock trial competition or a programming competition. There’s no way I’d condone missing a competition for work, but I can understand where work needs you to show up because that’s what they hired you to do.