I think it all depends upon what the issue was. Not ALL managers are "nice and reasonable". Yes the child should be encouraged to resolve the issue himself, however IF the manager is acting unreasonably/inappropriately then either he leaves the employment or his parents can try and see what the issue is.

My parents have stepped in once or twice when I was a kid, when a "manager" has acted unprofessional towards me, even when I have acted sensibly towards them. Believe me, my behaviour did NOT warrant the treatment I received and actually my parents were right to confront those people for treating me so poorly - as I find when you are young you can find it difficult to know what to challenge, what level you can go to, how to tackle it and that comes with age, knowing your rights and finding the courage to challenge unprofessional behaviour towards you. My parents were not helicopter parents either, however I appreciate sometimes parents can inappropriately want to "save" their children when it is NOT necessary and they need to learn to deal with some work based conflict on their own - as did I learn how to deal with some of the conflicts I encountered, which is normal for anyone.

JIMPO.

I'm with Deliah on this one. I think it depends on the situation. If I felt that my CHILD (at 16 you are still a minor) was being treated unfairly by the manager I would definitely try to figure out what was going on. I would also want to know if my child was being a jerk. At 16 you do still need the guidance of parents.

I would also question teachers at my child's school. My sister is dealing with a similar situation with my niece. She's in the 7th grade and has been on the A honor roll pretty much since 3rd grade. She got all A's last term and one C. My niece said that the teacher "didn't like her" that's why she gave her a C. My sister was of course skeptical. She told my niece to gather all her old tests, papers, quizzes, etc. Guess what? She got mostly A's and a couple of B's. My sister has been requesting a meeting to figure out what is going on and that teacher keeps blowing her off. She finally had to take it to the principal. We are still waiting for the outcome of the investigation.

Mmmmm...I have some mixed feelings on this.

>If the kid is old enough to have a fricking job, he should be old enough to speak to the manager on his own behalf and solve his own work problems.<

Actually no. Where I live, teenagers/young adults being taken advantage of by unscrupulous employees was a big problem here at one time, especially in the restaurant/retail sectors. Some of these kids were being hired and told that their first two weeks on the job was "training" only. Then they would be told that it wasn't working out and were let go. Oh, and since the weeks they worked was considered "training" the employers didn't have to pay them. A lot of these teenagers/ young adults didn't know any better and didn't challenge it. I'm not saying that parents should intervene on their behalf but people just starting in the work force do need to be educated on what their rights are.

For normal job performance situations, I agree, let the kid learn a lesson and stay out of it. But if it's unusual, as others have mentioned, then I think parents DO need to be involved.

When I was about that age, my dad spoke to my manager when a customer had made inappropriate advances. I didn't have the experience or skills to know what to do. When my daughter at about that age made a mistake that resulted in threatening behavior from one of the patrons, you bet I went in and spoke to her manager, with respect but concern for her safety.