But

especially if he’s under 18 and living at home, you need to have a good idea of what’s going on at his workplace.

Know the environment. It’s highly unlikely your teen will want you to hang around his workplace. Nor should you.

But you should go at least once or twice to check it out. Is it reasonably clean? Does anything look unsafe? What kind of influence will his co-workers be?

Talk to your teen about work. Your teen should be learning something at his job, even if it’s what he doesn’t want to do with his future. Find out what he thinks the job’s good and bad points are. Urge him to keep a written record of skills learned, such as using a cash register.

Keep track of how the job affects other areas of your teen’s life. A job should not be a high schooler’s first priority. He should be able to keep up with his school assignments and see his friends.

He should also have enough time for meals, sleep and exercise.

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