Your teenager is in the transition. They are no longer children and yet they are far from being an adult. In terms of responsibility they still behave like a child and yet they are getting old enough to be independent like an adult. Often, your teenager or their parents may consider whether the teenager should get a job such as giving tuition, etc. The money that is earned can help to supplement daily necessities and help in the family bills but there are considerations involved.

The Advantages

The obvious advantage for a teenager in getting a job is to the development of responsibility. By learning first hand the hard work required to get the money needed to buy the things they want, they learn this very important lesson.

The job can develop good working habits and life skills which can help not only their future employment but their immediate character building. Working with other colleagues as a team can build a “other first” attitudes which is often lacking in a teenager.

The job can help in the development of self-confidence because the ability to earn an income makes them feel good. This can in turn motivate themselves to do things better such as their own studies.

The Disadvantages

Perhaps the number one concern for parents is that spending too much time working can affect the teenager’s performance in school afterall it is commonly understood that the paper certificate is the most important piece of paper. They could become less interested in their studies, thinking that they can still earn some income without a good paper qualification.

Another issue is that their school’s CCA can get affected because they will spent less time on it. In Singapore, CCA can be used as part of the scoring system to get into better school.

For teenager that has poor budgeting skill, they could develop poor spending habits because they work! This can be an irony. The rationale is this: As they work, their income could be higher than the allowance from their parents. Thinking that they are now have bigger earning power, they can get carried away spending on expensive phones, music, designer clothes, etc instead of spending on needs and saving the rest.

Should parent allow their teenager to work? This should be on the case by case basis as this is an important decision. It really depends on your child .. opps teenager. Personally I feel that as long as his grades are not affected and CCA are not compromised, it is alright for them to work part time as they can learn valuable lessons about responsibilities which textbook can never teach them.

Advertisement (Audio Download)

The 6 Most Important Decisions You'll Ever Make: A Guide for Teens
by Sean Covey