When my husband and I reminisce about our teen-aged babysitting days, we sound like grandparents recalling the long walk to school that was uphill, both ways, in the snow: “Back in my day, I got $1 an hour for watching a passel of rambunctious kids. I had to make dinner, change diapers, supervise baths, put the kids to bed, and then wash the dishes. There were no DVDs or computer games. We actually had to play with the kids. That was babysitting.”
Despite the hardships of those pioneer days, I look back fondly on them. As I hear stories now about my daughter Louisa’s babysitting adventures, I’ve noted how the job has evolved due to changes in technology and society. I’ve also noticed how much of it seems familiar: the excitement of being mature enough to watch a neighbor’s kids, the pride you feel after resolving an intractable sibling dispute, and the thrill of receiving money you earned yourself.
How is babysitting different for today’s teens? When I asked Susie Wistrom, program assistant with the Central Minnesota Chapter of the American Red Cross, she had a quick, two-word answer: cell phones.
“I know some parents now will ask, ‘Are you paying attention to the kids or texting?’” Wistrom says. “Back in the day, your friends didn’t call you where you were babysitting.”
Cell phones can be a useful tool for sitters and parents, but they also can distract a sitter from his or her duties. That’s why they are discussed in the Red Cross babysitter’s training program, long revered as the gold standard of sitter preparation.
Designed for boys and girls ages 11 to 15, the class involves at least 6.5 hours of training. The Red Cross recently revised the curriculum to incorporate more hands-on activities and role-playing to engage teenage brains. Participants receive a CD-ROM with printable safety checklists, family interview forms, and business card templates.
Safety is a primary concern. Besides learning basic first aid and how to handle emergencies, students talk through scenarios like what to do when an adult asks to come inside, claiming she’s there to pick up something from the parents, or how to respond when a parent is drunk and wants to drive the sitter home.
The goal is to help participants develop the problem-solving skills and confidence to handle any situation.
“It’s the Red Cross motto: prepare and prevent. That’s what we hope everybody walks out of here doing,” Wistrom says.
Steph Helkenn, a girl program specialist with the Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys, says Red Cross babysitting training is part of leadership training for Scouts in fifth and sixth grades.
One of the biggest challenges Helkenn faces — besides separating girls from their phones during training — is helping them develop a work ethic. She recommends that parents discuss this with their teens before they take on a babysitting job, to ensure they are mature enough to handle the huge responsibilities involved in caring for someone else’s children.
“This is the generation where everything’s sort of been handed to them,” Helkenn says. “They need to understand that you have to work; you’re not putting the kid in front of the TV and then doing your homework, or texting, or going on Facebook.”
Through the training, girls learn creative, non-electronic ways to engage children in play. They also create back-up plans for keeping kids entertained, and they learn appropriate discipline techniques.
Helkenn says it’s important for sitters and the parents hiring them to meet beforehand, to make sure it will be a good fit for both parties. It’s also important for sitters and their parents to communicate about babysitting jobs, so parents can help their teens act professionally.
“As adults, we do a disservice to kids if we’re OK with whatever. We should push for excellence, as defined by what the kid can do. Having them strive for what they’re capable of is not a bad thing,” Helkenn says.
I can’t verify that my daughter strives for excellence every minute of her babysitting jobs, but I know she’s had to develop patience and learn to think on her feet. I enjoy having her come home and ask, “Mom, did I ever do that? Was I like that?” Often the answer is yes, and I can see in her eyes that she has a greater appreciation for what it’s like to be a parent.
Payback is sweet.
Joy Riggs had to walk uphill, both ways, barefoot, to get to her babysitting jobs, and she was paid in wooden nickels.
