I don't want ds to do work experience.

where? I've read the whole thread and not picked on on any "was so worried about my wayward DC, until they did 2 weeks in the local candle shop and now they've turned their lives around"

really where? have seen some where DCs have PART TIME JOBS that benefit them, but who's had the life changing 2 weeks school WE?

Several people's DCs on this thread, grumplestiltskin. ^^

"It sounds like sending students back to school for inappropriate behaviour, and writing feedback which is critical but fair, could be the making of some of them"
more of the life changing moments here... did anyone on here actually have their life turned around by 2 week school enforced WE? like in real life not what the producers show on World's Strictest Parents?

Ah yes, Antidote, WE is often hard work for the workplace. It's intended to be useful to the student, not the "employer"!

It sounds like sending students back to school for inappropriate behaviour, and writing feedback which is critical but fair, could be the making of some of them.

"It is a motivator when a student undertakes a boring WE as they come back to school thinking there is no way they want to do that for the rest of their lives"

LOL it was not a life changing two weeks! the hard working students came back hard working, and the lazy ones came back lazy. It just meant that the motivated hard working ones missed out on 2 weeks of doing productive things..

noone in their right mind out have their 15 year old 2 week work experiencer doing the real hard manual handling these days anyway. They'll either be watching or put to work doing something dull safe and un taxing. They wont suddenly know what a real hard day's work is!

"they'll more likely be sitting in the back of a quiet shop putting price stickers" but doesn't that in itself teach them something?

It is a motivator when a student undertakes a boring WE as they come back to school thinking there is no way they want to do that for the rest of their lives

no its not, there's LOTS of work experience out there that's worse than none if it's poorly matched to the child. I learnt NO transerable skills in my school work experience.

And spending two weeks tagging along to something they hate is not going to make them suddenly admire everyone that does that job! its not secret millionaire FFS, anything really hard, dangerous, busy, meaningful isn't going to be able to have a 15 year old under everyone's feet all day. They're not going to be out with the paramedics or in the grotty factories and lorries that bring us our food or out with the bin men, they'll more likely be sitting in the back of a quiet shop putting price stickers.

grumble all parents would prefer their children to tend towards something better, but the lesson in life for all should be that these jobs exist, someone has to do them so don't look down on them.

If they can get WE in the area they want to work then fantastic, sometime however it is not possible, and any experience is better than none at all for all the transferable skills that WE offers

cricketballs: "even with the snobbish comments about working in a greasy spoon"

Alouisee: "Snob? If that makes you happy, I call it standards"

I didn't put it on my UCAS form either.

And you don't have to do hard manual labour to get on. If a DC knows what they want to do in the future and they focus their work experience/part time work/studies on RELEVANT areas, it really doesn't matter if they've never scrubbed a mountain of pans in their lives.

And work doens't have to be HARD and mundain and manual! I think that's a rubbish lesson to teach children, I personally would kinda prefer if mine tended towards something that didn't buggar their backs up for minimum wage!

In my experience, it didn't make any difference to my university applications that my teachers didn't make anyone do 'work experience' as a school enforced practice. It just wasn't something this particular school took part in. I worked weekends in a shop from 15 onwards though, so I did have the experience of having a job, but I can't remember putting that on my UCAS form.

I am not insulting you, I don't waste insults on people I don't know. It doesn't seem worth the effort. I am giving a view different to your own, in a rather polite manner. Having a different view is not insulting someone .

in theory YUBU, in practice the compulsary school work experience my class mates and I had was a complete waste of time! we got real work experience when we turned 16 and got real paid part time/summer jobs. And we didn't use our school work experience to get those jobs either!

I did mine in a very small art gallery which didn't change any displays of have any events for the whole two weeks, the paid staff were bored out of their minds so it didn't matter how pro-active I was there really was nothing to do once the floors had been swept except wait for the 3 phone calls of the day or 1 school tour of the week. It taught me nothing of work ethic because there was no work to be done. Was USELESS reference wise as they had so many bored work experience and unemployed "back to work" schemers there that they didn't bother to learn my name so wouldn't have had a clue who I was if they were contacted about me - I'm not even sure they'd have confirmed if I had even been there or not!

Most of my classmates had similar or worse experiences during that time, between 11 and 2, and after 3, we'd all meet in town cause we'ld been kicked out from under the staff's feet for 2 hour lunch times or half days.

Then I got a paid summer job in a busy hotel, learnt a work ethic there I tell ya! and used that reference to get better later jobs

I am aware of the rules about earning money however I hardly think my daughter is going to be snatched away because she has she drive to do something. She is not reporting to a factory every morning or even wandering the streets with a big bag if newspapers. Furthermore at the moment she is donating the money from her current "venture" to charity. We have not forced her or even asked her to do this , this is her hobby. I personally think it is bizarre but she is very much her own person. .

I suspect if you look into the background of many successful entrepreneurs they were doing something similar at her age. As well as earning her money she keeps her own "accounts" and is constantly trying to come up with new ideas.

As a parent I recognise that she is very different from me so we have encouraged and supported her.

how have I put words in your mouth; it was a direct quote from yourself!

I suspect that despite being a cotton woolly liberal I am raising the next Alan Sugar.

On a more serious note I am pleased that I have raised my dd who has an "edge" and a strong ambition and work ethic. I am quite certain that she will arrange her own work experience and it will be something fantastic. You get back from the experience as much as you put in.

Of course it can be a complete waste if time, I have taught students his has been the case for. On the whole this has been because they did not try and this lack of drive was often seen in other parts of their life.

I washed dishes to pay my way through university. Those are standards to be admired.

She is not down a pit! She went around the local farms and estates and offered to pick fruit, muck out, clean etc.

At one house she arranged to pick their fruit in return for using their swimming pool.

Most people admire and encourage a good sense of work ethic.

Standards; so everyone who works in a 'greasy spoon' have no standards then