to allow my 12yr old ds, to start a

[ohokthen]

paper round tomorrow.

My son went into our local newsagents to put his name down for a round for next year when he is 13.

The owners have known us both for years. The owner looked at his long list of names, and straight away offered him a job. "I know you wont mess up, so you can have it"

He starts tomorrow, Im going to go with him, on his 1st day. To help him get used to his route.

Is he tooo young??? And the job is every day is that too much????

Am I being irrisponsible in allowing him to do it??? What do you all think???

i spect the shop gets round it by him signing a form.

my dcs do a paperound. i said no to sundays as i thougth they shoud ahve a day off. could your ds have a day off, otherwise the novelty might wear off pretty quick.

How does "signing a form" get round: If you're under 13, you cannot legally be employed

He can't sign a form. He's underage and it's illegal, which would make any form he signed invalid. Sorry.

Yes I thought that as will make sleepovers difficult for him. Will speak to the owner tomorrow.

My lads gone cinema, so we will have a good talk about it at teatime. I expect he's got £ signs in his eyes this afternoon

The owner should have known this. Makes you wonder how many other underage children he has delivering papers?

I think it's of the shop and you really as it is illegal - if found out the shop could get a big telling off.
47 houses before school everymorning plus the enormous weight of the weekend papers is too much - plus £30 doesn't seem like much for all that effort!
And yes I know that it was previously common for kids younger than 13 to have paper rounds - but at one time it was also considered fine to send kids up chimneys!
If it were me I'd prefer to wait until he is older (loads of the other kids will soon get bored of the idea leaving a space for your ds???)

I started my first paper round at 12. I dunno if it was illegal then, was a while ago.
I managed fine with my route (28 houses) for the most part and i got £36 a week.
Only day that is a bit sucky is the sunday, but i had a friend go with me most sundays.

Don't paper rounds kind of get passed over in the legailty thing. I know the 7am rule, but when I did a paper run we had to be at the shop for 0515 as the papers needed to be delivered before people left for work. I had a huge round, two big paper bags worth so 50 papers sounds ok.

And it's not like being sent up a chimney, he wants to do it. Surely it's good to sbhow young people had good it feels to earn your own money?

They are not supposed to start so young but i let my DD at 12. She had two routes on the go by the time that she was 13 1/2.

I think it instils a work ethic into them and an enjoyment of earning money outside of the family.

" If you're under 13, you cannot legally be employed, although you can take part in paid sport or entertainment with permission from your local authority. Once you reach the age of 13, you may be allowed to be employed to do 'light work'. This is work which is not likely to affect your health, safety or education. Things you can do may include shop work or taking on a paper round."

If he wants to do it, he can manage the comittment and his school work doesn't suffer - good for him. It will stand him in good stead for thefuture. even a paer round can go an a Cv in the early days and if he wants to do a holiday job later on he will already have proved himself as reliable. Maybe he should have a day off though or ask if he can share the round with a friend.

Can't he wait until it is legal? 12 year olds shouldn't be working. Childhood is short enough as it is.

I know a couple of 12 year olds doing paper rounds. I'm not sure how they got round the legalities of it.

I personally don't see anything wrong with a capable child doing a paper round aged 12, but the law's the law so he shouldn't do it.

Also, if the shop owner has a long list of children waiting for rounds then I think it's unfair for your son to just be given a job. Particularly as he isn't even old enough.

Think the newsagents should definately think about splitting the rounds .My son started a 7 day week paper round after christmas but has had to miss out on so many sleepovers ,social occassions etc that he is finishing next week .He said that if he could have the weekends free that he probably would have carried on with it for a good few years .Newsagents take note !Also my son only got paid £22 ,so not exactly an incentive to carry on .

Paper rounds are brilliant. I wasn't allowed one not sure why, but I think it instills importance of earning your own money and being responsible.

I was working in a shop at 15 though so I'd always wanted my own money anyway.

"The owner looked at his long list of names and straight away offered him the job"

Now I understand why my 2 DC have been waiting years to get a round, even in the world of paper rounds its who you know !!!