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In most English-speaking countries, lots of teenagers work during their summer holiday and during the school year too. They put adverts in local shops or in local newspapers saying they can wash cars, cut grass and babysit etc. Dog walking is a cash job that is popular with teenagers who love pets. If you have several clients, you can make a lot of money. But you need to be able to control several dogs at once. Canada and the North of the USA get very cold in the winter. In areas with heavy snowfall, just walking from your car to your house can be dangerous! But some people are too busy to clear the snow, so they prefer to pay someone to do the job. So it's a great opportunity for teenagers to make a few dollars. They go door-to-door and offer their services to their neighbours - all they need is a snow shovel, and a lot of energy!
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In Britain and North America, people like to read their newspaper while they're having breakfast or on the way to work. So the papers need to be delivered early. Teenagers are allowed to start work at 7 am, so they can work before they go to school!
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Paper boys or paper girls get up very early, they walk or cycle to the newsagent's, they pick up a big bag, and deliver the papers around the neighbourhood - no wonder they sometimes feel sleepy during lessons ...
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In Britain, teenagers between 13 and 15 are allowed to work 2 hours a day on school days, and 5 hours on Saturdays. And they can work 25 hours a week during the holidays. Young people look for jobs that don’t require qualifications. In supermarkets, they usually stock shelves - you don't need a diploma, but you do need to be organised, tidy, polite and helpful to customers. Being on your feet all day can be tiring and boring, but for £5 or £6 an hour, it's worth it! It gives you some financial independence, it teaches you to be responsible, and it looks great on a CV... On school days, American teenagers under 16 can work up to 3 hours. But when there's no school, they can work up to 40 hours a week. A lot of high school students work in restaurants and diners after school, at weekends or during the holidays. Wages are often low for waiters and waitresses, so tips are really important! There are no work hour limitations for 16- and 17 -year-olds, so they sometimes do too many hours, and they're exhausted. It’s hard to keep a balance between school, work and fun...
Vocabulary search Find among the underlined items in the text words and expressions which mean: Une pelle des clients un quartier Distribuer Des annonces être debout toute la journée Les salaires Mettre en rayon
garder l’équilibre être autorisé être somnolent un pourboire être occupé des chutes de neige importantes être fatigué kiosque à journaux
-What are the English-speaking countries? Countries where….
True (T) or false (F) , give the corresponding lines to justify your answer: Teenagers in English-speaking countries are not allowed to work during school days They do not want to do any dog walking because it doesn’t pay much Canadian snow boys do not need special equipment to work Paper boys and paper girls get up late because they are exhausted In restaurants, waiters and waitresses get low salaries It’s quite easy to reconcile school and work in the US
Compare the employment laws in the US and the UK teenagers between 13 and 15
UK
US
teenagers under 16
