"Mum how can I possibly fit in a part time job ....

[BigSandyBalls2015]

...... you do realise I'm in year 11 don't you, under enormous stress, with sooooo much revision to do".

Said my DD last night, with a completely straight face, after spending the entire day lying on the sofa under a blanket with her phone, before heading to a mates to get ready for a party

We were never allowed to have summer jobs as my parents mind set was, you will be working for the rest of your life. They funded us as best they could and at the risk of sounding a bit Pollyanna, it all worked out OK.

DH and I only have one child, DH is approaching retirement age and we have arranged our finances going forward for our DC to not work until they have finished school but to have a £120 a month allowance. This is on top of DC's phone bill, clothes bill and haircut bill.

Life now is so much more pressured than it was twenty years ago.

I worked (pot washing then checkouts) from 15 until the end of Uni. I have excellent exam results and still managed a social life. I've never asked my parents for money for house party booze or, later, pub money. Surely balancing priorities is learning about adult life?

I won't make my kids get a job...but I'll be strongly encouraging it.

I probably won't need to, though, as it's a rite of passage in my country. Very few teenagers do not have jobs by the last year of High School.

There are so many benefits to teenagers working: they learn reliability and work ethic, confidence, self-esteem, learning new actual skills on the job, and cash. The pros VASTLY outweigh any cons.

I actually think it's really important for their personal development.

My dd's had a job in year 11. they both worked weekends and asked for extra hours during the holidays. They also asked to cut back during exams. They got fantastic results.
They went around and asked people if they needed any more help. their jobs weren't advertised in papers etc.

Plus, in what two years chances are they will be working their way through uni anyway.

DD is in year 11 and plenty of her friends have a job. Mot of them have had them for a while, but AFAIK they are still doing them in yr 11.

Saturdays in a hairdressers, Sundays at a café, that kind of thing. DD has a paper round Mon-Sat. Hardly interferes with her studies - takes her from about 7am to 7.30am every day.

Surprised at all the posters saying no employer would take on a pre-16yo - actually plenty will. Best bet is to find a local non-chain employer - a small café that needs a few hours' extra help on a Saturday or a takeaway place ditto. It's good for your CV and also provides you with a proper work reference which is otherwise tricky to get.

Or try DS2's idea - he's going to do his footy ref's badge when he turns 14 and get paid £16 a match for a few hours' work on a Sunday morning :)

Clary, that's what my dd's did. Non chains, take aways and cafes. And because they would up their hours in the holidays, was a bonus as holiday leave for others then became an option. If someone needed a few hours cover after they had finished school, they would go. And because of this flexibility, when it came round to exam time, dropping shifts wasn't a problem at all.

Not to mention other perks - I worked at our local cinema as a teenager. Unlimited free movies and popcorn!

No wonder employers are getting frustrated with graduates who come in thinking the world owes them a living, can't take instruction and need praise for just doing a Job!!
For all those who say they don't want their kids working during GCSEs, do your kids really spend every spare minute studying? Ok some might but only a small minority. We're talking maybe 6-8 hours out of 168 in a week....my dd (now 19) and all her friends had part time jobs, mostly from the age of 15 and definitely from 16 and the rest of their lives didn't suffer for it...those who wanted to go to University are there, and those who wanted to do other things are doing them...
It does kids no harm whatsoever to realise the value of money, and that when you want/need money, it has to be worked for. My dd was a nightmare for not looking after her possessions until she started working and was able to work out that the cost of something equalled a number of hours of work. Suddenly she started being a bit more careful.
Socialising isn't all about going to parties etc, some of my best friends now, 30 years later are people I met through my weekend job. We socialised at work and got paid for it-win/win.

I worked 20 hours a week (2 evening 5-8 shifts, Saturdays and Sundays) during year 11. Prior to that I did a lot of babysitting work which was great for maling noney whilst sitting doing ny coursework etc. I had an interview on my 16th birthday (early in the academic year) and worked through until a couple of weeks before my exams. After my exams I reinterviewed and was taken back on again. Unfortunately I became unwell so I cut my hours back during 6th form, but I still went on to get good GCSE and A Level results.

DSis had a similar set up. She also worked through uni although I didn't as I was too ill and due to having worked so much before was entitled to incapacity benefit. DSis and I both got 2:1s. I did a postgrad diplomas whilst working 16 hours pw and pregnant and I did a masters as a mum of a very young baby and working Saturdays and a couple of evenings, finishing my masters as a mum of a toddler working 25 hours pw.

Personally I always found working gave me much more drive to study. My DS is still only little (10) but says he wants a Saturday/weekend job as soon as he is old enough. I've got no problem with that.

My DD didnt work during Year 11, she wasnt (and still isn't) very money orientated. However she recently very reluctantly got a job at McD and she is loving it!! Her confidence has increased massively. I have encouraged her to save half of her income each month and then she spend the rest as she wants.

All of mine have worked at the very lest doing babysitting, all through high school (in the US) and then through university, and still managed to do very well. They have done weekend phone duty in various places, and worked summers too. It helped them to have references available when they needed jobs when they were in university. I never sent a penny to any of them while in third level.

I actually think if you want something done, make someone really busy and they will find a way to do it (to turn the other saying upside down and inside out). I think the more teens have to do the more momentum they have.

I also agree it makes them realise the value of money and they don't waste it.

dd1 is a lifeguard. She works two or three shifts of 6 hours every weekend. She struggles to work in the evenings as she is a dancer, which takes up about 12 hours a week (she also teaches one of the dance classes, and TAs for a further three.) she's in an after school science team that competes internationally with genetic engineering that takes up an additional night a week (they are off to Boston in two weeks). She's also involved with girl guiding and this weekend volunteered to help run a camp for younger sections which involved manning a team challenge station from 6pm on Saturday night until 5am on Sunday morning. They had to be up at 8am to pack away tents, join in activities and get a ride home. She started work at 3pm for her (second) six hour shift of the weekend (first one on Friday night).
She's a straight A student that was accepted for a month long residential summer program at a university this summer.
She's 16 now but has been working at the pool for nearly a year - she started in a different capacity but made time to work through her life saving qualifications and standard first aid in order to move into that job.
Too busy is relative, I think.
She bailed on Friday night's class party as she knew she was involved in a class fundraiser first thing on Saturday and would be going straight to camp for no sleep, then working until 9pm on Sunday. She did manage to catch up on the party gossip on Saturday morning though.
The other teen in her class that we have living with us hung out in town with her friends on Friday night, went to the party (ending up staying over as everyone was drunk and comatose) did the fundraiser, went to her mates' house until 10pm on Sunday and slept until noon. This afternoon she whined because she wanted to hang out with dd1 but she was going to work. So she went to lie on her back and text for another 6 hours. She also has a job (supermarket deli making sandwiches) but turned down shifts this weekend because she didn't want to work.
They are both great kids. In all honesty, working is entirely normal here once you get to 15 or so. Even ds1 got a summer job at 14, washing dishes in a local hotel, and he is quite the laziest toe rag in the cosmiverse. He has started his lifesaving courses though, and is booked for standard first aid next month so he is qualified enough to apply for a job at the pool after his birthday.
Dd2 is 13 and is itching to get a job. She is also fully aware that her employment options with cerebral palsy are limited. Gonna have to think about that one but at least I have a year yet!

I worked 8 hours every sat and sun the minute I turned 16. Before that I did lots of babysitting. I still used to go out to parties etc just never got to laze around in bed on weekends but did it in holidays!

I'm the type of person who becomes more efficient the busier I am. If I sit on my arse all day I turn really lazy and seem to do nothing. I think getting a part time job is a right of a passage as a teenager! Helps you learn about money, responsibilities, professionalism etc.

Pontif- do they also feel absolutely stuffed after half a fish finger, two chips and a pea?

Research (told to me at teacher seminar thing a few years ago so don't quote me) suggests that up to 10 hrs a week of job/work in addition to school is good, but more than that is detrimental. Of course if they are doing tafter school activities five nights a week as well they can't fit it all in. As a teacher I have more problems from kids who think rugby is more important than maths, than the ones who work to help the family.

For all those who say they don't want their kids working during GCSEs, do your kids really spend every spare minute studying?

of course not, down time is important, after all they already are in school full time

I work part time and study and I struggle to fit in exercise and relaxation and catching up with everyone important in my life

For all those who say they don't want their kids working during GCSEs, do your kids really spend every spare minute studying?

No, but DD has social anxiety and has problems concentrating so homework takes longer than it should.

I had a job at her age, but I only took 2 A levels. DD is currently studying for 4. The school expects them to do an hour of homework per hour of subject studied, which adds up to 20 hours of homework a week.

She needs some downtime and usually has Saturdays off. She does homework every night and all day Sunday. I think having Saturday off to recharge her batteries is a good idea.

She does volunteer with Brownies every week though.

I think everyones soft now. I had a job from the age of 15 and worked in Tesco Tuesday and Thursday evening from 6pm-10pm and then all day Saturday. On Tuesday and Thursday I would leave school and catch two buses to my job and then get home at 11pm thanks to a lift. I remember you used to have to get a work permit, I think it was from the council, to work those hours as a 15 year old. It was great, I had my own money, new friends. had to be responsible and grew up a lot!

A 15yo is Not allowed to work after 7pm, & "a maximum of 2 hours on school days "
Does Tesco hire 15yos? Sainsburys & Lidl don't.

Tesco don't hire 15 year olds.

As I said, my ds has a qualification he could use to earn quite a lot of money. I don't let him work much- he has music, extra curricular activities, homework, his contribution to the running of the household, a social life and staring into space to do.

Well whoopiedoo Whoopiedoo

Cue the Four Yorkshiremen sketch

When I was at sixth form college we all had jobs. I worked as a part time waitress, doing about 12 hours per week. My boyfriend worked all day Saturday in a garden centre and Thursdays 6-9.

We both got excellent O Levels and A Levels, as did most of our friends. Plenty of time for partying too.

No none of ours had jobs until 6th form and that was strictly controlled and mostly holiday time.

Getting a job is great and ours kept their jobs right through uni holidays too so really useful.

However the pressure on kids now is far far greater than when I did I O/A levels in the 80s where we basically revised for the last 10 weeks and had a blast for 3 years.

You can't compare to today.

I do get a bit sick of everyone banging on about how much harder it is today. This:

Pupils who score a B grade in A-level maths today would only have got an E grade 50 years ago, a new study of grade inflation suggests.
The research, by Loughborough University, found standards in the subject have dramatically declined since the 1960s as exam papers have become easier.

Sure, it's about balancing stuff but the idea that no one should work whilst they are studying is ridiculous. Agree with other posters, if the teen default "faffing" mode is taken in hand it's entirely possible to work a few hours a week and do exams. My dd does a couple of hours life guarding and a few hours babysitting each week, does A levels and competes at National level in her sport. She's not exceptional but she is very organised.

Well I can only compare it to my own experience and I did an fraction of the work my dds/dss did around that age.

Maybe some kids are super organised and that's great but others arnt.

You make decisions as parents that suit your children not others.