Good Day Bermuda! This week I decided to address an issue that I’m hearing about every day and one which is distressing parents around the Island. It has to do with the dearth of summer jobs available for kids, since the economy has contracted.Since there are fewer jobs for full-time, adult employees, there are most certainly fewer summer jobs for students. So the question that I now raise, is: What shall we do with our kids this summer? More on this after the top 20Finally taking over the top spot is Rack City by Tyga, one of the hottest rap tracks in the business at the moment. Tumbling to #2 is Turn Me On by David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj.Up to #3 is Someone Like You by Adele. International Love, by Pitbull featuring Chris Brown, improves to #4. Falling to #5 it’s Hangover by Taio Cruz featuring Florida.Improving to #6 is The Motto by Drake featuring L’il Wayne. Slipping to #7 is Dance (A$$) by Big Sean featuring Nicki Minaj.Improving to #8 is the hot dance track by Chris Brown and Rihanna, Turn Up The Music. Advancing to #9 is Take Care by Rihanna and Drake. Tumbling to #10 is Ni**as in Paris by Jay Z featuring Kanye West.Soaring to #11 is a former essential new tune, Stronger, by Kelly Clarkson. Tumbling to #12 is Good Feeling by Florida. Improving to #13 it’s Give Me All Your Luvin’ by Madonna featuring Nikki Minaj and MIA. Madonna’s new CD is hot too; check it out. Falling to #14 is We Found Love by Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris. This week’s biggest gainer is Glad You Came, a massive dance hit by British-Irish boy band The Wanted. This is your typical 2012 dance/club track. One hot beat, some clever keyboards that remind us of techno from the 1990s, catchy lyrics and some cool kids to perform it.Improving to#15 is Starships by Nikki Minaj, this week’s essential new tune. Nikki is a little freaky but I guess that’s what you get with such talented people. There’s always a thin line between brilliance and insanity.Slipping to #16 is The One That Got Away by Katy Perry. Down to #17 is Hotel Nacional by the Latina Diva, Gloria Estefan. Sliding to #18 is Rain Over Me, by Marc Anthony and Pitbull.Down to #19 is Love On Top by Beyonce. On its way out at #20 is Sexy And I Know It by LMFAO.Now back to this week’s topic — What shall we do with our kids this summer? One of the unintended consequences of the global recession, which has hit us hard in Bermuda, is that companies can no longer afford to take on summer students to the extent that they did in the past, during the glory years, or during recent times when business was booming.We are going to have to be far more creative in finding things for our kids to do this year if they cannot get jobs. Here are some suggestions:1. Students should consider offering themselves to work for free to get some experience.2. Students should volunteer with charities and other such groups.3. Students should consider starting a small business or working for themselves. Ask around the neighbourhood for persons who need their grass cut, houses painted, roofs whitewashed. This is how many students raised money back in the day and it could work again.4. Students should consider creating a business that is perhaps more technical in nature, using the internet or other technology.5. Students old enough (I believe the age requirement is 21) should consider getting a taxi licence and finding a taxi to drive for the summer.6. Students should consider running their own summer camps and charging parents less than what the traditional summer camps cost.7. Now my last one is revolutionary and was put to me by a representative of a company I approached about summer employment for a young person. The individual suggested that the parents of the kid might have to pay the salary of their son. The kid would never know that his parents paid his salary and he would have a job for the summer. Unfortunately this is not an option for everyone. I was stunned by the proposal but the individual had done this for their own kid a few years ago!!These are just a few ideas of things that kids can do to earn a few dollars this summer, instead of hanging around waiting for someone to give them a job or find something for them to do. These ideas need not be limited to years of economic decline but can certainly be employed during them. Good luck summer students! Peace…………………………….DJLT.