Summer Planning: 13 Year Old Needs a Job but Not Really Old Enough

He'll have all his life to work. He IS too young and you wouldn't want him driving a tractor on someone else's farm. You would have no idea that he'd be properly supervised. Real farming is hard manuel labor, not really about mechanics.

He needs education and social skills to be his main focus at this age. Try to find something that works these angles rather than thinking about farm work.

My kids were working in a farm by the time they were 9. He should be able to find something by you. Best thing for him.

He's just 13. He does not "need" a job.

I get the occasional babysitter, petsitter odd jobs for kids to earn extra cash but absolutely no to a teen that young with a summer job.

Around here you can get a job at 15 for grocery sackers, Movie theatres, etc. Any child under 15 has to have a special permit due to hardship if some kind to actually have a "job" and all hours are limited.

How about a summer camp doing something he loves to do, learning new things and making new friendships.

At 13, it's a better option than making him have a summer job where you don't know how he'd be supervised.

He's got the rest of his life to worry about a regular job.

My daughter's at 13 still went to summer camp.

Perhaps you could find a social skills camp for your son so he learns to make friends. It must be tough having no friends at 13.

That's really a hard age to get a job. Mine is now 16 so it's much easier. We don't live in a rural setting either so it was much easier to help the neighbors to get a few bucks. My boys main source of income at that age were jobs I set up at the house. Pressure wash the house, wash and wax my car, clean out the garage, take outgrown clothing to Salvation Army etc. Mainly things I needed done that I didn't want to do.

If there are large farms in your area there is often work for young teens, not driving tractor, but pulling weeds, picking up rocks, hunting snakes ect. My nephews all started these types of jobs from around the age of 10 and the farmers in their area paid well, around $10 an hour for the picking weeds/rocks, and per snake for the hunting.

Other possibilities would be lawn care (which you said is not really an option), or things like babysitting. If that is an interest of his he can check with the local hospital to see if they offer classes in child care and child/infant CPR.

I guess I would actually check with local farmers to see if they need help. Here, we live rural, and often kids over 9 or 10 are "hired" to pitch hay bales, feed animals, mow, make small repairs, etc. I think my son roofed a barn at 12 or 13 (his boy scout leader hired a bunch of the scouts to work on his farm over the summer and paid really well). Is there a local paper showing a listing of farm jobs - I would call those farmers (the jobs they are advertising are for adults, but usually those are also the folks looking for a little summer help) and see if they have some work.

Good luck!

Hi MomOf - I read the answer you posted below about your son being an introvert.

So, forget camp - what about reading great books? Bettering his chances of admission to a top college by spending the summer reading and learning and exploring?

I just don't see why a 13-year-old "needs" a manual labor job.

He is 13, so he is way to young to work.

Mine is in Boy Scouts, and he goes to camp in the summer, and then he weeds/ picks up our neighbors lawn, and cleans his pool, etc. gets a couple bucks for that weekly, and then he just hangs out with friends. I know their are places that have day camps he can go to. He could work on a farm doing basic farm hand labor. Feed, clean, etc.. ask around.

Maybe be a camp counselor in training? Then it's a job he's doing so interactions with people have a purpose which I think makes it easier for introverts and people who aren't good at idle chit chat. And maybe if there's no pressure but a good amount of time with other counselors in training he will make a friend.

How about finding activities that other kids his age are doing? Our 13 year old helps by driving and toting stuff too. There isn't anything she can do except babysit. They can't even work as a car hop until they're 14 and with so many adults trying to gain employment they are hiring adults as car hops instead of pretty useless 14 year old kids that can't cook or clean with chemicals or even fill drinks if it involves touching machinery.

Since you're out in the country and can't take him in town each day then go back to town to pick him up your resources are very limited. I have friends that live in Shepherd and they're 15 minutes from Billings. I know there are other little areas out in the surrounding areas but then it's great big open space where there is nothing at all.

Here's my thought. IF he was to actually find a job he wouldn't be making a penny because he'd/you'd be taking it to pay for the gasoline. That's a no win situation. So why not let him be the kid he is and just let him watch TV and go outside and do stuff with friends?

I would love for him to enjoy childhood more, but it is him that wants/needs the job! He is just one of those kids that would have been ideal for an apprenticeship at an early age. He is really an introvert; so going to camp is really stressful for him. I make him do one camp each summer and it is a battle. We do 4-H pigs, which is somewhat of a job, but he only has to work with the pigs for about 1 hour a day in the summer.

MilitaryMom 6.'s advice is good, he can offer to be a farmhand. Also, how about a local tractor shop, or an auto mechanic's garage? They might want to take in an apprentice, and things like an oil change or a windshield wiper replacement aren't so difficult that he could not manage doing them, plus it would save them a lot more money than what they'd pay an adult. They could just check over his work before the tractor/vehicle is ready to leave the shop, and that's it. I see a lot of young high-school looking boys working at places like Tire Kingdom. Maybe he can do something like that, they not only replace and inflate tires, but replace headlights and do basic car maintenance jobs. He can work on car restorations and ATV restoration and maintenance. My daughter watches her uncle restore ATVs and he tries teaching her the basics of mechanics. She will hand him tools as he goes on, and he tells her what he is doing and how to use the tool. I think it's great, being a damsel in distress doesn't do anyone any good.

If you do end up putting him a camp, since he likes tinkering, may I suggest a robotics camp? They teach kids how to build robots to get them to perform basic tasks. I think it would benefit him, enhance his creativity, and make him handier with his tools, plus it would expose him to other kids so he could make friends and have fun. Another option is to offer to help the elderly with home improvement projects (paint a door, landscaping, pulling out weeds, washing cars)...I have a family member that is quite heavy and injured her back while gardening and picking up bags of topsoil on her own. She has herniated discs and will need surgery. She never could get her husband to find the time to help her, so she tried doing it all herself and ended up in the hospital. If she would have had a strong young man to help her, I am sure things would have turned out very differently. I live on my own and at different times have needed help in moving furniture, repainting and refinishing patio furniture, unloading heavy, large boxes from my car, and other things that were difficult to manage on my own. I'd appreciate having someone around that is reliable and can pitch in with stuff like that, patching up walls, and helping to bring up heavy furniture or groceries.

I think 13 is too young to get an actual job. The legal age here is 15 to get a work permit. There are lots of volunteer opportunities for kids that age, such as councillors in training at summer camps. He could take up a hobby or a sport. Some gyms offer free memberships to teens over the summer, so he could start a workout program. If you live in a rural area maybe he could plant a garden. You could get him an old car to tinker with, and some how to books. He could take up fishing if you have a river, lake or pond he could get to. Perhaps he could raise some chickens at home. I have the opposite problem. We are so busy over the summer we can't seem to find any down time.

At 13, we had our sons start by doing little 2-3 day projects for us - painting the shed, etc.
Got them outside, made some $ and helped us out.

Saw your note below - one of my kids is extremely introverted and enjoys camp. At his, you can skip any activity and go hang by yourself or in a quiet group if needs be.

Dog walking, pet sitting, house sitting, watering people's gardens if away, etc.

My nephew is very mechanically inclined, is now an engineer. Started doing lawn mowing, then bought a ride-on in high school from the proceeds, and it was a job (landscaping) through to college. Set his own hours and was able to be outside during summ

By "have a job," do you mean he needs to earn money, or that he needs a regular and structured activity? I hope you don't mean he needs to get paid - that's a lot of stress on a child if you have him in a typical employment situation, and there are tremendous restrictions about how much a company or enterprise can pay (child labor laws, etc.). And I'd have some concerns about a child that age around a tractor or other piece of heavy equipment - the liability for the farmer is huge.

And I read your added information, which somehow got posted as a regular response below, instead of being added to your original question or posted as a "So What Happened" - can you copy/paste that into the body of the original question so everyone sees it?

Since he's an introvert and doesn't enjoy camp, but he does enjoy animals at least a little, can you consider the following? Maybe some of them could be done with his younger brother.
- volunteering at an animal shelter or rescue operation for abandoned animals. They would LOVE to have someone walk, feed, pet the dogs and cats. Sometimes they need some small repairs on crates and pens which might appeal to his hands-on skills, or he could work with one adult volunteer to learn how to do more things.
- providing foster care in your home for an animal that is over-stressed in a shelter (maybe do this after he does the first one, so he gets some experience and supervision from the adults. Some of these abandoned pets don't do any better in the noisy and crowded environment of a shelter than your son does in the noisy and crowded environment of a camp. I wonder if he would have some empathy with them.
- providing vacation coverage for neighboring families. When they are away for a day or a week, they might need dog walking or cat care (not just feeding but also socialization for lonely animals - which takes more than an hour a day). For more than day trips, they might also need garden weeding/watering, mail/package collection, houseplant watering, and so on. My son started this at about age 10, adding responsibilities as he got older, and had quite a business going by high school! Money, responsibility, flexible schedule, very part time hors. He also learned to write up invoices on the computer and keep some very basic financial records, and he opened a bank account. Great prep for "real life."
- volunteer at small-scale summer programs, like track clinics or town recreation programs for younger kids, if he's in a smaller group with younger kids that might be less stressful than a bunch of his peers.
- volunteer at a nursing home or assisted living residence to help with activities. Seniors often need help with things like crossword puzzles, bingo games, or craft activities. Sometimes reliable family pets or foster animals can be taken in for engagement with the seniors - good for everyone. Some residents may have bird feeders outside their windows which need to be refilled or cleaned out - it gives them so much pleasure and it might be emotionally rewarding for your son.
- Do an area collection for needed materials by the food pantry or the animal shelter. We've collected old bedding/towels/pillows/bath mats as well as donations of food and bowls (etc.) for the shelter. Your son could make up flyers, explaining what's needed (after he talks to the agencies), and distribute them to neighbors or post at the library and other public bulletin boards. He could, perhaps, set up collection bins at a pet store (for animals) or the supermarket/library/police station (for the food pantry). He could go in once a week and collect donations and take them to the recipient agency. Maybe he could set up something at an area farm stand to collect extra produce or get customers to donate part of their purchase to the hungry. That would give him a start with a local farm and perhaps show enough dependability and interest that would lead to a job in future years.

At 13 my son announced he wanted to work at our local National Park. You know that wasn't happening. But I ultimately talked poor John into giving my boy a chance and let him volunteer for one day to see how it went. Steven is going to be 24 on Thursday and still works that job in the summer. Yes, he gets paid now. But he has learned more about so many things from being there I would have happily paid them to take him.
What I know is you have to struggle and be insistent to talk someone into giving your kid a chance. I've done it many times. Be his advocate, think outside the box, be persistent.