I have read several articles in the past week about students and summer jobs. Some kids seem to be more concerned with boosting their education by taking extra courses during the summer. One can't blame them for this since it is not always easy to get into college. Another article mentioned how hard it is to get teens to work as lifeguards in public pools and amusement parks. These were the coveted jobs when I was in high school. Now water related jobs are considered boring. Who wants to sit for hours and watch others swim?
Back in the sixties seventies, there were groups of kids that went to Six Flags just to get a glimpse of the cool kids working there during the summer. Only the cool kids got those jobs, and the rest of us could only wonder how awesome it would be to strut around in red swimsuits. These kids never really looked like they were working. They seemed to have it all - looks, money, popularity.
My sister and I were required to get jobs during the summer. Our jobs never required us to wear red swimsuits.:) We were usually in the typing pool instead of the swimming pool, which is really a good thing since neither of us ever learned to swim. Long before school was out each year, our parents had us looking through the paper for summer work. This was a really big deal. Not finding a job was never an option. One summer I stuck labels on boxes. Now that was exciting work.
My own kids worked during the summer so that they would have money for the school year. This was especially important during their college years. It seems important to learn about money along the way. Earned money is much harder to spend than money just handed over when it's needed. Working during the summer might just be the inspiration a kid needs to stick it out during the tough times of college in order to land a better job.