Young 'uns today...

[Silversky]

I constantly 'older' people (I'm 15) saying that people leaving school at 16, have no idea what working life is going to be like...
I partly agree with them as I work part-time and it's the job I would like to have as my 'lifetime' career.
I was just being nosey, and seeing what you thought. Can us young 'uns handle working life or will we want to run and hide?

[laurence2]

Firstly where stating the obvious, as obviously leaving school at 16 you have no idea what working life is going to be like.

What where trying to say tho is, its not just about you working, theirs bills, morgages, clothes etc to cater for, my dad always said to me that the best days of your life are at school, because once you go out on your own into the BIG WIDE WORLD thats when your problems will start.

[wolf63]

My mum wouldn't let me work when I was at school as she said that I could do that when I was an adult.

She also said, when I was about your age and moaning that "life isn't fair" and "life is hard" that things only get worse as you get older. She was right.

I am 42 and I think that sometimes we forget how hard it is to be 15. Your hormones are upside down, crinklies look down on you as thugs and you wear weird clothes. We forget that we were the same - I wore really awful clothes when I was a teenager. I have no children but my brother has two, a little girl at 2 and a baby at 5 months. I love them to bits, but would much prefer a cat or dog.

In my last job we had 'youngsters' working. Some were lazy, some were stoned, some were thick, some were just plain weird - but most of them were hard-working, keen and confident.

I hope that your part-time job gets you into the career that you want. Best wishes to you.

from a 'nearly crinklie' Susan.

[redcrx]

I think it depends on the person. Some cant handle a working life at that age they still need to learn how to be responsible etc. Many do work and get on well though.
Ive employed many teenagers over the years in my various jobs. Two stick in my mind.
One was a 15 year old taken on to do saturday work, this was 13 years ago and he turned up at interview in full goth clothing and with studs all over his ears. he came across well in interview and against other peoples thoughts i employed him. I left the company 2 years later but visited about 5 years after that to find that he was the assistant manager and very well respected in the company.
Another lad i took on elsewhere was 17 and could not think past the pay at the end of the month. he couldnt think for himself, took endless breaks and had many warnings about his attitude. he even got his girlfriend to call on many occasions pretending to be his mum and calling in sick for him at 11am 9his shift started at 8am)
These are two examples that show that not all are the same. But its a fact that many kids seem to think that work is an option. they have nothing to work for, they have TVs stereos designer clothes before they work so dont have to work to buy them.
Good luck with doing what you want. I loved my saturday job and continued in retail for many years after i did my a'levels.

[Rock'n'Roll]

If us oldies could manage it when we left school,then no doubt todays school leavers will be able to

[WendyS]

I think that when you leave school at 16 you have little idea what life in general, let alone what working life is going to be like. I suspect that this is because largely your parents have protected you from much of the immediate stress of the wider world and you are too young to have experienced unpleasant circumstances such as being sacked, being made redundant, or having to cope with & care for ageing or dying parents while still trying to hold a job down. Also, you will not have been exposed to the fear of needing to perform at your job so that you're not sacked and unable to pay your rent, mortgage and other bills, having previously just assumed your parents would hand over the pocket money every week. Working life brings a whole new set of pressures into the spectrum which you may not have experienced before. If your parents have trained you well and you have a sense of responsibility, you should cope OK.