I worked for about 12 hours.  In addition to many hours of dance (probably close to 12 as well, for sure if you included the times sitting at the dance studio between classes) and all the high school extra curricular activities I was in.

So I would say it depends on how many other activities he wants to be involved in, and the type of classes he's taking (I did a few AP, in grade 12 all of my classes were academic with no spares whereas in grade 10 and 11 I had some options and I even had a half spare one year) and how much time he needs to spend studying.  A flexible job where he can work less hours if he has a ton of midterms around the same time, or during finals would be helpful.  If he could reduce the number of hours if he finds it to be too much would also be helpful.

Thanks chemgal.

I would wait a little bit and find out how much time he needs to give to his classes before making a choice on how many hours will work for him.

I started my job when I was 14. I was cleaning at a dog groomers from 5-6 Monday to Thursday, in the summer I worked from 11-6. By the time I was in grade 12 I was working 3-6 Monday to Thursday for the same place. Along with work I also had Dance 4hrs a week, swim team 1.5hrs a day, choir 3hrs a week, piano 1 hr a day practice plus an hour lesson each week oh yeah and almost forget orchestra 2hrs a week. Add all that with school and spending time with my friends I was a busy girl! Moral is that different people are going to be able to handle different amounts. I would say finding something that you can get less hours if you need them is good advice.

The only paid work I did in high school was babysitting. For me, that was enough - I could set my own hours (usually a couple of hours a week - sometimes more, sometimes less).

I babysat-usually 1 weekend night in gr. 10 & 11. (lived rural)

Grade 12 I worked at Birk's jewlery over Xmas break.(lived urban)

I worked summers from 14 on at lodges and then at camps.

I lifeguarded throughout University.

I worked at a cafe when I was 16, two or three evenings a week, 4-9 ish... it was boring, but good experience. The money, to me, was awesome, and I saved up for my first car.

Thanks everybody. Junior is making some plans on what he wants to spend money, I suppose he will be out looking for something soon.

I also mostly babysat from the time I was about 13 to 17.  I did have a couple of part-time jobs during summer vacation.  One was as a counter waiter and hamburger flipper at a summer resort type place.  The other was an odd job position that my friend and I shared running errands for an elderly lady, such as shopping, laundry, cleaning etc.

I think it is good for teens to have some kind of part time job as long as it doesn't interfere with their school work and still gives them time for other activities and a social life.

I started delivering Gas bills when I was 10 it was on the week end first thing in the morning. It was nice being out in the fresh air.

your son might be interested in delivering flyers that way he can get exercise and fresh air the money isn't great but it is consistant.

My two boys have both had paper routes since grade 6 (it's only a once/week route). My oldest (now 16) had a full time job for the summer at a camp and has given up the paper route. He's talking about getting a part-time job now that he's home but not doing much about it. My younger son (15) is keeping one small paper route and has another job that is about 2 hours/week. It's always a challenge fitting everything in, especially for my younger son who is very busy in many activities, but it's also been good for them to have the jobs and be earning their own money.