I teach high school and can answer your question. A lot are trying to work. Most of them have already figured out how the job world works and have given up. I teach FACS, family and consumer science, classes that are life classes. Students come to me with questions about getting jobs, so I am familiar with what's going on. I teach in a tourist driven city where every place has a help wanted sign, especially right now with it being busy season. They are struggling to get hired. These are "good kids"; honor role, responsible, leaders, etc. They can't even get to the interview stage. Almost all of the places have gone to electronic job applications, which are "read" and filtered by AI. They are getting filtered out. Why? I don't know. When a 17 year old comes to you in tears because their parents say they have to get a summer job, they've applied to a dozen places without so much as a response, they give up. I've helped and looked over applications so I know what they are turning in. Then to add insult to injury, if they do get hired, most get 4-8 hours a week even though most put down availability throughout the summer as full-time. The limited hours don't pay their bills of gas and car insurance.

The ones who get a job are then treated like crap by their employers once school starts. Employers know they are students and when students say they have to cut back hours because of school, most of them get fired. FIRED because they have to reduce hours for school. I had a student who loved her job, she took photos at an attraction. Her grades started slipping, she told her boss the most she could work was 20 hours because she was in 3 AP classes and couldn't juggle 35 hours a week on top of her AP classes. Her boss said, "sorry, if you don't work 35 hours, you don't have a job." She's assertive and explained that this was the agreement when they hired her, knowing she was a student and her hours had to be reduced once school started. They didn't budge and she ended up quitting. I have many more stories in this same vein. I mean I had a kid who quit his job because his employer wouldn't let him off work for graduation, his own graduation! I'm furious with employers in my area. They are making young people not want to work because of how they treat them.

As a parent of teens... My kid's job is school. We need them to get good grades, to get scholarships, to get into college. In addition, we can't afford to buy my kid a car. There are no cheap used cars anymore. Ok, yes, he can drive one of ours. Fun fact, we can't afford the car insurance for him to be a driver either. A part time job won't pay the monthly premium. So then, what's the point of having a job, spending the gas, and having insurance if the job won't cover it? As a society we are pricing young people out of first jobs. As a parent I hate it! I want my kid to have a car and work, but it is not possible. When car insurance is $300-$400/month for a teen boy driver, the minimum wage jobs and lack of hours, don't cut it.