Source: Global Times
Since the outbreak of the epidemic, most of the united States has changed from kindergarten to college to online classes, and for many families with minors, children's time at home has far exceeded the normal period, affecting parents' work arrangements. With the arrival of summer vacation, offline and online teaching activities have also come to an end, and the epidemic has reduced the number and types of summer camps, making the market for asking people to take care of children on their behalf extremely hot. The United States has always had a tradition of hiring teenagers and college students to be "babysitters" (temporary child caregivers, colloquially speaking, non-professional part-time "nannies"), and becoming such a childcare worker is also one of the professions often chosen by young people. However, if students want to be "nannies" in the United States, they need to go through a lot of reviews and exams, and the competition is fierce.
Different regions of the United States have different age requirements for part-time "nannies". The laws of Kansas and Nebraska stipulate that children younger than themselves can be cared for as long as they are 6 and 7 years old, respectively. Among the states with age-restrictive laws, Illinois, which has the largest age requirements, also only requires caregivers to be over the age of 14. Most states, such as California, do not have a minimum age limit, as long as the two sides agree, so many local children have begun to work in this way to earn pocket money from elementary and junior high school. In most American families, children have to bear part of the responsibility of helping parents take care of younger siblings, so many American college students have 5 to 10 years of "work experience", and some students will continue to use their spare time as part-time "nannies" during college and even after joining the work, which is both a hobby and a subsidized life. For international students, it is a very good way to quickly integrate into the local society, understand the local culture and make new friends.
In order to be more competitive in the increasingly regulated part-time market, students who want to work as childcare workers usually obtain some corresponding certificates. "First aid training" is the most common one, and the first aid object can choose adults, children, or both. Other important training includes "Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation" (CPR), which and training in automated external defibrillators (aED) can be certified accordingly. The above three trainings are conducted together, with a total lesson of about 5 hours and a price of less than $150. Simply enter your geographic location on the website of the American Red Cross or other related institutions to see a list of all institutions in your city that offer such courses and sign up for payment directly on the website, as are available at local hospitals and community centers. Because similar courses are very practical, the class time is short, and the cost of the class is relatively cheap, so the vast majority of students who want to be "nannies" will obtain these certificates, increase their competitiveness, and prescribe higher requirements for part-time work. Tan, who was a graduate student at a school on the east coast of the United States, told the Global Times reporter that at that time, because the place where he lived was near the sea, residents generally paid more attention to swimming safety. Tan worked as a tutor and part-time "nanny" for a year, and before that, she was qualified as a swimming safety person in the community. "Although it is not actually used, when looking for a 'nanny' job, it is more competitive to say that you have this qualification."
As early childhood caregivers, American students not only have to ensure the safety of their children, but also need to accompany them to write homework, do sports, etc., taking into account the responsibility of care and tutoring. Therefore, many students will study preschool education, early childhood development and other subjects in their spare time, and some students even study in pedagogy, early childhood psychology and other majors. They work while accumulating first-hand experience, of course, if students have expertise in music, art, and sports, it is also a big plus.
In addition to the requirements of qualifications and specialties, for safety reasons, students need to undergo background checks from the other parents before becoming "nannies" to check their own criminal records and traffic violation records. In general, the cost of accessing these records is borne by the parent. In addition, there is currently no COVID-19 vaccine for children under 12 years old in the United States, and families during the epidemic are very cautious, most job seekers need to provide vaccination certificates and wear masks during care, and students with medical-related backgrounds are particularly favored.
As a country with such a tradition, parents in the United States used to hire the older children of their neighbors to help them take care of their children. In this case, everyone is familiar with each other's backgrounds, families, personalities and hobbies, and also has geographical advantages. However, now that various online platforms have developed, the competition for such jobs has become very fierce, but the two sides lack understanding. The Global Times reporter noted that there were an unusually large number of students who took the three first-aid training certificates this year, most of them to prove that they were competent for the job.
For international students, the student visa has a working time limit and cannot be completely free to work odd jobs like local students, but they can still participate in this part-time job that is both service-oriented and self-improving within the allowable time range. At the same time, many colleges and universities in the United States often cooperate with local kindergartens, elementary schools, summer camps and other institutions to provide students with internships or volunteer projects, so in order to participate in these projects, more and more international students go to obtain training certificates.