Teens can help clean the house weekly

YANBU, of course they can and should be helping. Maybe agree to as a family and draw up a clear list of tasks for each person so it’s not a vague ‘can we clean up please’ and a teen might just take that to mean ‘can you put your dirty socks in the wash basket’ and consider it job done.
Teens are just slightly younger adults and they should be taking some responsibility of pitching in to keep a house clean and tidy and be properly house trained beyond their own bedrooms and possessions.

I think they definitely can pitch in but having been through this myself, I would consider allocating jobs to be done within a time frame rather than having to do the work at exactly the same time as you.
My sons would e.g. clean a bathroom on Saturday morning but maybe not at 9am or whenever you choose to do your cleaning.

I think somewhere in between i expect mine to clean up after themselves so kitchen clean and tidy after they've cooked something. Bedroom clean and tidy. Then I occasionally ask them to do additional jobs like just hoover before we get home ect mainly during the holidays or at the weekend if their not doing anything. I don't know how I feel about a set schedule as I would hate them to miss out on something because their cleaning the house

You'd be teaching them valuable life skills and responsibilities, plus everyone benefits!

Absolutely go for it. As children (5 in total) we were all given specific tasks every Sunday, starting around age 10. The tasks rotated so we learned several skills.

Get a robot vacuum cleaner and then you only need to task the teens with emptying it or dusting the skirting boards which takes 5 mins max a week.

Leave a bottle of bleach in the bathroom, shower spray and a supply of cloths and ask them to spray the shower after each use and wipe the sink of marks and the toilet each evening before bed when they brush their teeth.

I think with teens its not standing there and demanding they stop what they are doing and do an hours clean but to incorporate it into their routines already. I think if things are done as you go along then there isn't a huge need for a massive clean.

We had a cleaner who came weekly through most of my childhood. (Both parents worked full time.) Nevertheless I can’t remember a time when we were not expected to join in the family housework on a Saturday morning. I probably started ‘helping’ before I was five years old. It was just natural - everyone lived in the house, so everyone picked stuff up, dusted, made their bed, put clothes in the laundry bin, cleared the table, etc, etc. And as we grew older we took on more advanced tasks.

We were very much a household where reading and conversation and homework came first, so not domestic drudges by any means - but none of my parents’ children arrived at university with no clue how to look after themselves …

good idea! I have three kids at home just now (22, 19, 13) and I get them all to help to a certain degree, around work/study/school. So, every night, whoever is in has to help with sweeping/taking recycling out/washing up.

If one of the older ones is in on Saturday/Sunday, I get them to hoover the house. I sometimes get my eldest to clean their shared bathroom, and I make sure they all put their laundry into the laundry basket, tidy up rooms etc.

I am often to be heard saying I'm not the housekeeper, and there is no tidying up fairy...

on the other hand, I do things quicker and better, so it's a balancing act.
I think it's about making sure all the work which is needed is visible, and not just done by magic. and, they need to be able to look after themselves when they eventually move out (or as we say in my house, when I release them into the wild...!)

Of course it is fine for them to pitch in to keep the house clean. They live in it too!
I don't really get the whole "they study hard". You also work hard but still have to find time and energy for daily drudgery. I wouldn't set a time but would allocate weekly tasks (and make sure they do actually know how to do them) to complete in their own time.
It's a really sad state of affairs when a 16-year-old apprentice has to be coached on how to put a fresh bin bag in.

Of course they should help.

I never made my DCs clean up but I wish I had. If I had my time again as parent, I’d start them young. You’ll perhaps be struggling to get teens engaged unless they’re very biddable and reasonable.

Definitely yes, they may be living with you for some time - I wouldn't like to end up with an adult housemate who leaves all the cleaning to me.

This sounds like a nightmare tbh!

Getting them to pitch in with cleaning is completely reasonable, but giving them each some responsibility and letting them manage their own time is a much better way to do it.

Absolutely they should be part of these tasks. In the context of house-cleaning they're adults (meaning they have adult physical strength/coordination and the capability to see what needs doing & plan their time).

My 15 yr old has been participating in daily chores since he was 5 or 6, building up gradually so that by 18 he'll be fully able to run his own home when the time comes.

I don't want him to fly the nest without those skills and habits, I'd feel like I'd let him down.

You are not being unreasonable to do this. I would however look for another cleaner. If having a cleaner means you don't have to do it, that's what i would do.

If you want to pick your battles, ask them to do something they care about. DS would have died of laughter if I'd asked him to dust skirting boards.
But he would feed the cat, do his laundry, cook once a week as he liked the cat, his clothes and eating.

Of course they should. They could both be parents themselves. But I wouldn't make them do it at a set time. Agree a division of tasks and frequency - but everyone can do them when they want to. They could be living with you for years to come. They have to pitch in now. Or they'll be living in house shares or with partners, so they need to be ready for that.

Of course you can! It would be good for them. My 17 year olds are v lazy around the house and wish I’d been more consistent with them helping me more as a single parent.

We had family staying recently. DS (19) was tasked with cleaning the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms and hoovering. DD was tasked with cleaning both en suites and sorting out the bedding.

All 3 DS have been helping to clean and cook since they were small in age appropriate ways that have built over the years. Oldest is now at uni and the difference between him and other 18 year olds is stark. He has noticed it at work too where he is just miles more able and confident than others his age and has thanked us which was nice because he wasn't constantly thanking us while growing up doing chores his mates didn't have.

Unless there's a particular reason, I'd say it's bad for kids not to join in. If there's used to doing age appropriate stuff all their life, when they get a house share/partner, it will be much easier for them. The sexist old line about "don't marry a man straight from his mother" (because obviously housework was mum's job only) has a ring of truth, in that both boys and girls often get everything done for them, which makes it harder for them when they have to suddenly balance adult responsibilities in their own place.

Absolutely not. The bathroom will be cleaned at some vague random point in the future. A teamwork blitz is perfect.

Yeah, but we don’t get to pick and choose, why should they!?