Have you noticed that it seems that there are so

Have you noticed that it seems that there are so many more opportunities for youth than when you were a child? I think a big reason for this is that there are so many more service industry type jobs that are available each year. More people are getting into technical level jobs so this frees up service positions. In some ways this is good, but I also believe that kids should take some time in their youth to just hang out. We work so many years in our lives we should hang onto the carefree years as long as possible.

When my sixteen year old announced that he wanted to earn money to buy his own car, O had mixed emotions. I was glad that he was not expecting his father and I to buy him a car, but I also did not want him to get a job where he was not enjoying himself. I started inquiring about jobs for teens that I thought he would enjoy doing. I told him that he could have a job as long as it did not interfere with his school work, he could still be involved in the sports he enjoyed, and that the job was something he enjoyed doing. He and his father were skeptical that all of these criteria could be met but he began his search for jobs for teens. This was in the late spring about three weeks prior to the end of the regular school year. He was checking the bulletin boards at school when he saw a job for teens announcement that looked appealing to him. The job was to work with a summer youth program for kids between the ages of six and nine. The program was a day camp in which activities would be done and some skills taught. There would be field trips and swimming lessons. The program was run through community education. It offered extended hours for working families to offer day care for this age group, but the core hours would be nine to four each day.

My son has talked about being an elementary school teacher for two years. I have hoped that he would continue with this ambition because I think that male elementary school teachers are much needed. He enjoys working with children, and this type of summer job would help him decide if he wants to make a career out of working with kids. He came home and told me about the job for teens program at school and the day camp position that was opened. He said he would rather do this than flipping hamburgers at the local fast-food place. I liked the idea of the set week day hours. This is a great program for everyone.