To be shocked at how many teenagers do absolutely NOTHING on the weekends

[MrRected]

I reckon teenagers should be put to work - whether it be sport or actual work (waiting tables/supermarket checkout etc).

I think that letting them do absolutely nothing, doesn't help them in the long term and am surprised at how many people I know who think it's entirely normal for their little darling to hide in their bedroom for days on end.

Although I did work as a teenager at weekends I am also grateful I could spend loads of time hanging out with my friends during weekends and holidays too because these friends are still my best friends today nearly forty years later.

Mmmmmm ... doing nothing. All weekend ... [drools at mere thought]

Teens are worked like bloomin' dogs at many schools these days. I hope they get their downtime at weekends.

Tbh I think rest is essential to growing teens. They work their brains and their bodies hard all week, in addition to the influx of hormones, with a lovely dash of social politics and friendship woes.

If my dd wants to rest on a weekend then she can. Lord knows when she enters the world of adult work and responsibilities she wont have this freedom ever again.

Tbh OP I do beleive you are being delibaratley inflammatory. But you know that.

my teenage boy would love to have a weekend job, sadly they do not really exist for under 16s.

My mother got me a Saturday job in a neighbours bakery shop for 90 p an hour from 6 until 6. Scarred me for life....

I was 14....she'd have had me up the chimneys if she could!

come martyring by what a great turn of phrase only, I love it!

I know a few teens desperate to work but most waiting and shop jobs 'round here go to mums who can only work on weekends as they can't afford childcare in the week and they can't manage on one income anymore.

DD 13 is desperate for paid Saturday job. She has sent letters to loads of places but nothing has come back. She volunteers at the shop at the hospital after school once a week and more in the holidays. The supervisor has given her a fantastic reference but I think her age is against her.

I am glad that people realise that they can't just walk into weekend jobs the way we could. They are very difficult to get. I used to wander up the High Street just asking and eventually someone asked which school and gave you one. I don't think I knew what a CV was and I didn't fill in application forms.
When my son applied to Pizza Hut there were 100 applicants. Everything needed vast form filling or CVs and there was enormous competition. Two interviews for one job were not uncommon, always with masses of applicants. One day was never enough, it was always 'Can you work Sundays too? Which evenings can you work?' He had school work, he only wanted one day.
Next time you see a teenager without a weekend job you need to realise that they may have applied just about everywhere in town. Coming second is no good if there is only one job.

When ds was a teenager he did a paper round come rain or shine every week day morning before school. It was lovely that at weekends he could snuggle under the duvet and not get up at 6 a.m. Dd and her teenage friends have been looking for what we used to call Saturday jobs for ages. They barely exist. Occasionally one of them has got one through a friend of a friend. She is working b* hard for her A levels at the moment, and needs time off like the rest of us....

My dd is about to turn 16.

Her weekends are spent revising at home, going into school for extra revision, doing her normal jobs in the house and going to drama/dance class.
She also comes with us to watch her brothers play football on Sunday, sees her friends, watches tv, sleeps.

I think that's enough for a 16 year old about to take 11 GCSEs thanks.

If she is only 13 yrs she hasn't got much hope, she will have to carry on volunteeering.

It is one age that you can do nothing, you might as well make the most of it.

When I was hiding in my room I was painting, drawing, reading books, articles, discovering new music, spending time with my pets, talking on the phone, writing, writing letters, starting on new projects, decorating my walls, learning languages, dreaming.....but hey if you say I did nothing then that's what I did ay.

I did volunteer in a charity shop for two years and somewhere else for a year to get something to stick on my CV. It was bloody hard trying to find a paying job because guess what, actually everyone wants one! Finally got offered a perfect one just when I was leaving for uni. I'm still kicking myself about that!

School is extremely stressful by the way. Being around a load of teachers and judgy teenagers all day? Exhausting.

As a university lecturer I can't help noticing that one of the biggest problems for my students is that they are not used to reading books other than school texbooks. They don't seem to know how to read for pleasure. Maybe you don't learn that in a supermarket checkout.

If I see my 15yo dd before 1.30pm on a weekend shes doing well, other than that she generally only emerges from her room (unless shes arranged to meet friends etc) when she wants feeding.

Shes a teenager, she will have enough years of doing "stuff" when shes older, if what shes currently doing makes her happy then I just leave her to it. Im not forcing her to do anything she doesn't want to! (Plus it means if shes not going out shes not asking me for money...)

So, you want them to have a full on week and then to have a full on weekend too? Do you have a full time job and then another at weekends?

Do you have teens OP?

Stop being so fucking judgemental.

why are you so shocked OP? Is there some background?
[tryingtogiveOPbenefitofthedoubtemotion]

Is there a reason you don't have a weekend job? Plus go to the gym for several hours on Saturday and Sunday?

Don't forget to do two hours of homework when you get home from work each day.

If you don't do these things, you're lazy. Only that sounds ridiculous doesn't it.

Teens are people for god's sake, they don't need to be doing something every minute of every day. If you have kids and treat them like whatever they do isn't enough, I doubt you'll have a fantastic relationship with them to be honest.

Give teens a break! My DD(16) works her arse off all week in school and gets mountains of homework for the 10 GCSE's she will be sitting soon. She needs some downtime at the weekends to relax, meet friends, watch TV - much as adults do after a hard week at work. How many teenagers do you actually know OP?

YABU my teen works very hard at school in the weekend, and will help out round the house, I am more than happy for him to chill and spend the weekend as he wants.

Dd (Gcse year) is doing about ten hours of revision/homework at weekends - she gets about 15 hours over the whole week to read and relax - I get more than her!

I don't know any teens that do nothing at the weekends. In fact all the 16 to 18s I can think of do have jobs in shops, pubs, stables, etc and all of them are still in school too.

Due to their stupid bus my teens do long enough days in the week.

DD1 is doing GCSEs so clearly she isn't doing 'nothing' at weekends. She's in the Church choir so some Sundays she's busy.

DD2(13) is too young to work and does several hours after school sport in the week. Her Sat group closed or she'd still do that.

As for working, they have a life time to do that after they have learnt to drive. I do enough taxi driving in the week!