Should Kids Keep Summer Jobs After School Starts?

A rite of passage for your kids as they grow up is getting a summer job and here can be an immense amount of pride in having a job. After all, kids gain a level of independence from Mom and Dad because they’re earning money for themselves.

For many families, the question that comes up is whether or not the kids should keep their summer jobs once school starts.

Some kids start working very young. These kids tend to be entrepreneurial by nature.

They’re the ones who are mowing neighbors’ lawns and putting up lemonade stands.

For whatever reason, these youngsters will be earning money and enjoying it. They’ll probably want to continue throughout the year. These jobs may be more flexible and make it easier for kids to handle during the school year than a more formal job.

If your children have this entrepreneurial streak, it’ll be important for you to help encourage them. While not all kids with lemonade stands will grow up to run their own multi-national corporations, they’ll learn great business skills that’ll help them no matter where their career path takes them.

Other kids aren’t so entrepreneurial but still want to work in order to have some independence. These kids are more apt to get a regular summer job whether it’s working at a store or becoming a lifeguard at the local pool. Rather than creating a business, they do their work and collect a paycheck. These sorts of jobs are also valuable for more than just the money they provide.

Parents can help kids who are those kind of workers by encouraging them to find jobs that fit their skills or interests. Rather than just looking in the want ads for any job, they can look inside themselves to feel what would be a good fit. Let kids know that not all jobs are advertised -- sometimes the perfect job is there, but they have to go after it.

Whether your child is an entrepreneur or a worker, they’ll learn many lessons during their summer jobs. You can help them deal with rejection, issues with co-workers or employers, and how to handle money. But what should you do if your children want to keep working after summer is over?

Of course that’ll depend on your specific circumstances and your children. What may be great for one of your kids may not be a good idea for the next. It’s important that you and your kids both understand that these decisions aren’t made lightly and they’re unique -- not a precedent that younger kids will follow.

Working kids should tap into their Internal Guidance System (IGS) when thinking about working during the school year. They should consider their motivation and how it’ll feel to both work and attend school.

How will having a job impact their school life? Will they be able to participate in the extra-curricular activities they’ve enjoyed in the past? Will they be able to keep up with their studies? Will they miss seeing their friends? Will they be envious of the free time their friends have while they’re stuck working?

You should also check with your IGS rather than having a knee-jerk reaction when your children want to continue working. While you may think working at their age is unimportant and you would rather your children have time to “be kids” for as long as possible, your IGS will help you recognize how your children feel about it.

Their feelings may be quite different from how you felt as a child or how you think your children should feel.
When you and your children have both tapped into your IGS, you should talk about it. Work out a solution that is acceptable to both of you.

You might want to set ground rules such as only working on weekends or only as long as grades don’t suffer. Be open to compromise and come up with new ideas together. When you do that, don’t be surprised when the perfect solution appears as though tailor made for your family situation.