Originally Posted by Rodney

If you're committed to hiring teens, one thing you might do is to find a responsible community service organization to pre-screen deserving talent for you -- a boy's club, school club, school or community voc-ed program. If it's a good job, they'll be happy to comply. Make it clear you'd be willing to be a source of jobs for them in the future _as long as they keep sending over quality people._

This can work. My sister was a school district vocational-ed administrator for many years, and she developed relationships with employers like this. In return, she refused to give any of her charges a shot at the good jobs until she was convinced they were serious. And she takes a lot of convincing.