Teenagers

Family vacations can be a great opportunity to spend quality time together outside of daily life. However, among this picture of familial bliss is also the possibility that one sulky teenager can effectively ruin what should be a relaxing break for their parents. Overly concerned with being “cool,” many kids’ number one vacation goal is to ditch their parental units. To combat this, resorts and hotels have started providing activities for those who are beyond scavenger hunts, but not quite ready for cocktail hour. Helping teens meet each other and stay occupied, these vacation options provide parents with a break from headphone-wearing apathetic adolescents.

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Browsing for interesting articles online, my visual senses were overwhelmed with headlines reading ‘Teenagers Need Long Lie Ins’ and ‘Teenagers Improve Grades With Lie Ins’. Whilst teens might agree, parents no doubt find the concept of pandering to their children’s whining complaints of exhaustion ridiculous.

Parents should prepare to be shocked though as a test carried out at Northwestern University in Illinois shows that teenagers do actually need more sleep than children and adults. If that doesn’t convince parents to let teens spend all morning in bed, experiments performed by the Chairman of Circadian Neuroscience at Brasenose College, Oxford have revealed that teenagers brains perform better in the afternoons.

In a controversial move, Dr. Paul Kelley, headmaster at a school in the U.K has announced that he will delay the start of the school day until 11am because teenagers need more sleep and denying it could impact their mental and physical health and in turn education. ‘Teenagers are not lazy. We are depriving them of the sleep they need through purely biological factors beyond their control’ said Kelley.

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In many an expat’s home country, teens are keen to begin their working life quite early – usually through odd jobs or part time roles that pad out the pocket money. Beginning work in this way not only gives young people valuable work experience, it also teaches them commitment and responsibility, and enhances their social and networking skills. The cash flow injection is a nice bonus, too.

Working in China, however, may be a little tricky for many teens. Language issues are not the only barrier – the logistics of working for Chinese companies may not suit many expats, and the battle for work in this town is clearly dominated by the masses of Chinese graduates seeking work after school or university. Then there’s the ayi barrier – many jobs normally filled by teens are absorbed by this ubiquitous and multi-skilled house manager.

So. How can ex-pat teens join the workforce here in Beijing without complications or treading on ayi’s toes? Here are some ideas.

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