Your Kid Is A Bum, Make Him Work This Summer

Back in my day, kids worked. We worked our butts off. By the time I was 16 I had already worked at nearly a dozen jobs. I had done field work and concessions at Kings Bay Little League, wrote for the Marketeer, pulled weeds and shoveled snow for neighbors, put in hours as a cashier at Stop and Shop… and on and on and on.

Kids these days. They don’t know the value of a buck. They run up cell phone bills, buy Nikes and upgrade their World of Warcraft accounts – all on your dime. Yet, curiously, they run enviable businesses on Mafia Wars. These kids need real jobs.

Thankfully, New York City Department of Youth and Community Development is putting these little hooligans to work. The Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) provides New York City youth between the ages of 14 and 24 with summer employment and educational opportunities. In 2009 DYCD enrolled 52,255 participants and placed them at 8,688 worksites. Participants work in a variety of entry-level jobs at government agencies, hospitals, summer camps, nonprofits, small businesses, law firms, museums, sports enterprises, and retail organizations. Just check out the application.

Okay, so maybe my generation really wasn’t that productive. But your kid is still a bum.