Fed-up mum advertises son, 16, for work for FREE to stop him 'lazing around house' (and it worked!)
A fed-up mother advertised her son as free labour on Facebook to avoid having him lazing around the house doing nothing.
Donna Cooper took a stand after her 16-year-old son Nick was sent home from school and put on a restrictive timetable.
Concerned that he would merely hang around the family home in Hornsea, Yorkshire, she took to Facebook and made an online plea to put him to work… for free.
MORE: This mysterious spiked-covered sea creature has baffled the fishermen who found it
MORE: Kent school starts punishing pupils for HICCUPING under strict new rules
He only attends school for two days a week because of his behaviour, but his mother was determined to ensure he didn’t sit at home for the other three weekdays.
And the ploy paid off – within a day of the post going up on Facebook, her son was offered a shift at a local café.
The message she posted read: ‘This is my son Nick Cooper. He’s 16 years old… and has been put on a restricted timetable at school… due may I say to my shame behaviour within school.
‘Out of school he is polite and good hearted. School just doesn’t agree with him. Therefore he is only at school Monday and Tuesday.
‘So here’s the deal and the reason for this post.
‘I am a hard working mum and I refuse to have my son at home while I am out working.
‘So if anyone has any use for him for a few hours a day… farm work… labouring… he is yours… FOR FREE…’
She explained why she posted the message.
‘I wasn’t prepared to have him at home unsupervised while me and my partner were out at work all day.
‘I can’t be doing with laziness and he wasn’t going to be sat at home on his Xbox or PlayStation doing nothing productive.
‘He has been put on a restricted timetable but he is a hard worker and is very polite. School just doesn’t seem to agree with him.
‘He is not a lazy lad and the lady who took him on at the café said she would be happy to have him back.’
After helping out at the café, Nick has been offered a two-week trial for a joinery apprenticeship.
Donna, who has two other children, Sasha, eight, and Kristian, 11, said: ‘I wanted him to gain an education in life and now thanks to the post he has been offered a two-week trial for a joinery apprenticeship in Leven.
‘Some kids expect jobs to fall on their laps.
‘Nick complained about the café work at first but he went on to do a brilliant job. He now has a great reference to be able to find other work.
‘I wanted to teach him that you need to put yourself out there.
‘I got the number of the apprenticeship company for him but I left him to it after that.
‘He managed to organise an interview for himself while we were at work, and now he has a trial doing a job he has always wanted to do.’