Is this country out of teenagers? Oh, I forgot, they are all at the mall overspending on luxuries! And then, with all their buying power, they have great influence over the garbage goes on our televisions: they have the big bucks to spend on luxury items, so they get what they want on TV. A lot of problems could be solved by yanking them out of the malls, cutting off their money supply and forcing them to work in the summers. And I am not talking about hanging around in that same mall impersonating a sales clerk in some dress shop, either, I am talking about WORK - agricultural-type work that involves sweat and dirt and fatigue and broken finger nails and sunburn.
I just had to respond to your post. It is not enough to force teenagers to work if employers will not hire them.
Not all teenagers are out spending at the malls. There are currently about 2.8 million looking for jobs. These are teens and young adults aged 16 to 24. Their number is quite close to estimates of the number of illegal immigrants working in our nation. Not all of the 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants in our nation are working.
I have a solution that could put our youths back into the jobs they once held. Make them more attractive to employers by eliminating both the worker and employer contributions to SSI so long as these youth continue satisfactorily in school.
Such a change would allow more of our youths to attain a college education without going into debt, teach self-reliance, and provide the low-tech workers our economy needs.