How to Help a Teen Keep a Job While in School

Focus on balance, making sure there's ample time for school, studying, after-school activities and the job. It's difficult but it can be done.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Academic Counselings
• Palm Handheld Organizers
• Personal Organizers
• Cellular Phone Services
• Cellular Phones

1. Sit down for some preplanning before the job search begins. Figure out workable days and times.

2. Get a job description before the teen takes the job. A job that asks a lot of a teen may make him or her too tired to keep up with other things, and the job may eventually have to be sacrificed.

3. Make sure there is ready transportation available. If the teen does not have a car, arrange your schedule so you can get him to work on time.

4. Show respect for your teen's job. If Aunt Martha is coming for dinner, don't insist that the teen try to get out of his shift in order to be home.

5. Keep tabs on how classes are going. Grades, test papers and parent-teacher conferences are great ways to keep on top of it.

Tips & Warnings

• If there's too much to do and your teen is losing sleep and neglecting schoolwork, it's time for a major sit-down talk about what needs to go. Perhaps the job can be kept if another extracurricular activity is dropped.
• Keep your eyes open for symptoms of stress; a short temper, poor appetite or exhaustion are signs that your teen is not juggling all of his responsibilities well.
• If your teen gets into a dispute with his boss, it's likely that he will not welcome interference from his parents. Be supportive, but don't butt in.

[ginamay]

on 2/27/2009 work as well as school is a joke especially for teens in year12! it is a huge year alone with so much homework, assessments, exams as well as trying to manage a social life and having free time. a job on top canbe too much and push your teen to breaking point! trust e i know what it is like as i am going through ll of this right now! dont push the into doing anything they dont want to do especially if they are already busy with school.

[ginamay]

on 2/27/2009 d

[rimera]

on 2/4/2009 Whatever you do, PLEASE educate your teen about what is proper and improper to deal with at the workplace. My first job, I had no idea that the things my boss were doing were against the law. She eventually got fired for having an affair in the cooler with another coworker. Let them know that things like, working off the clock, physical abuse, and going to the employer's home are NOT a required part of the job! A teen is a person who is used to doing what they are told, and in a work environment, will continue to do so, not knowing that what they are being told to do is wrong.

[tinasgroove]

on 3/3/2008 that's crazy. A teen doesn't need a job, going to school full time is a job all on it's own! that's what my counselors and teachers have said!

[tinasgroove]

on 3/3/2008 that's crazy. A teen doesn't need a job, going to school full time is a job all on it's own! that's what my counselors and teachers have said!