Tisha beav camp price gouging

amother

OP ↓

Thu, Aug 08 2024, 10:36 am

I don’t understand why parents are ok with letting their 11 year old daughter make a fortune on 9 ac off of mothers who are desperate for childcare and don’t fast well.
It’s absurd to be charging $60 for 3-4 hours when the babysitter is an 11 year old , not even really of age to be babysitting themselves under normal circumstances. Why is there no chinuch involved in teaching these preteens to do a service without trying to get rich off of people’s desperation.
$15 an hour is what a older teenager should be charging when they are babysitting for one family. Not for an 11 year old who is also watching 5 other kids. It’s just wrong and nasty to take advantage of people’s desperation.

amother

Freesia

Thu, Aug 08 2024, 10:53 am

I dont agree.
Its not a necessity to send kids away on tisha baav... ive never sent any of my kids, because I dont want to spend the money.

But im sure its not easy for 11 year olds to watch little kids, and it needs to be worth it for them. They can charge what they want, those who find it worth it should send and those who dont, dont send. Its a luxury, not a necessity.

amother

Foxglove ↓

Thu, Aug 08 2024, 10:54 am

Sorry strongly disagree. Its not a necessity and to work on tsha bav is a big sacrifice. A teenager fasts too. You want their service u pay. Your welcome to open your own volunteer babysitting in your neighborhood
Eta I see you wrote 11 year old, I still stand strong they are providing a wonderful extra service they dont owe anyone they could be helping their own mother nothing wrong with doing this for money. Its a big responsibility for an 11 year old they should be compensated appropriately

amother

Amaranthus ↓

Thu, Aug 08 2024, 10:54 am

I did a camp and it really cost a lot, the supplies and food.. and it’s hard work. I don’t think it’s actually all that much. Age doesn’t really matter here, if they are buying supplies and working hard the price makes sense.

amother

Firethorn ↓

Thu, Aug 08 2024, 11:33 am

I really hate how we pay people according to age. (It’s actually illegal! But not relevant here I guess ).
If someone does a job well they should get paid what the job id worth. No reason to deduct pay because they are young. If they’re too young to do the job, don’t hire them.

My daughter did this a few years ago and charged $5/hr per kid… split it with a few friends … and I personally lost money on it.

amother

SandyBrown ↓

Thu, Aug 08 2024, 11:36 am

mha3484 wrote:

Sorry its a luxury service. These kids/teens/women who these camps can charge what they want we dont have to send if we think its overly inflated.

I don't agree
Its tisha beav
We're a nation we're all in this together

For 1 day can we help each other out for an affordableprice?
Women who are preg postpartum women struggling with shalom basis that spouse won't help??

amother

↑ Foxglove ↓

Thu, Aug 08 2024, 11:37 am

amother SandyBrown wrote:

How many times have you volunteered to help out on tsha bav thats a big ask

amother

↑ Whitesmoke ↓

Thu, Aug 08 2024, 11:41 am

I think the problem is that we are monetizing everything.

When did chessed stop becoming a thing? Why does everything have a price tag? And why are we encouraging our young young preteens to charge?

As I wrote upthread, when I was a kid I did this for free. I took the little kids in the neighborhood, took them to the park for an hour, read them some stories, maybe we colored a little, everyone ate snacks or sandwiches they brought from home.

It wasn't a whole "program", there weren't fancy supplies and projects or overhead. It was simply giving the fasting adults a break.

And it was common in my neighborhood that every year the 10/11 year Olds would do this.

How did we get from there, to fancy programs run by teens/adults with high hourly rates? Why should anyone lose money over something that shouldn't be costing money?

amother

Jade

Thu, Aug 08 2024, 11:43 am

My 11 year old on Lakewood is doing it for $15/kid with a friend. 1:30-5. She will be fasting. But it’s only 3.5 hours, they will have at least 10-12 kids, and they’re each walking out with at least $65. That’s plenty of money for a kid to make in 3.5 hours.
I agree that the $50 price seems excessive. Even if they work hard since when does babysitting or even being a counselor earn over $100/hour?

amother

Coffee ↓

Thu, Aug 08 2024, 11:45 am

Don't send. By us they charge less but I still don't always send. When I was a kid this didn't exist where I lived & our parents managed.

If you're pregnant & really can't care for your child & you have no one else to look after them you may not need to fast (ask you lor)

amother

↑ Foxglove ↓

Thu, Aug 08 2024, 11:45 am

amother Whitesmoke wrote:

Because parents want more than one hour which is great for the parents who can afford it. An 11 year old can volunteer their time on tsha bav for 1 hour anything more than that I believe is taking advantage of them. Compensate them appropriately. Or make alternative arrangements. My sister and I move in together on tsha bav and yom kippur to help each other out.

amother

Pansy ↓

Thu, Aug 08 2024, 11:46 am

I do believe that the girls could charge how ever much they want and you could decide if you want to send or not. However, back in the day when I was young, about 25 years ago we used to make day camps on Tisha B'Av, and never even thought to charge any money. It was done as a chessed to Jewish mothers in the neighborhood.

amother

↑ Firethorn ↓

Thu, Aug 08 2024, 11:46 am

amother SandyBrown wrote:

Expecting girls to create an entire camp on Tisha Baav for free or close to it isn’t reasonable….
Remember , these 11 year old girls likely either have younger siblings , and their mother could use help, or they have nieces and nephews they could help with. I have had people ask me if my preteen could help them, could work at their camp (for like $1/hour), could be a mothers helper etc… I get it! But she is very helpful with my little kids, and when I feel she’s helped “enough” (not to turn her into a shmata or to parentify her), I want her to relax, not to go do another job for a negligible amount of money.