Jobs for kids

When I was in middle and high school I mowed lawns to get a bit of spending money. I've noticed that there don't seem to be that many kids mowing lawns anymore though, and don't understand why. To me mowing was pretty near the perfect job for a kid.

• I controlled my own hours, as long as I didn't let things get too far behind.
  
• The pay was better than minimum wage friends were getting at fast food jobs
• I didn't have to have a car and associated expenses, just gas for the mower and weedeater (as long as I took jobs near my house).
  
• Make my own hours. I could work around school activities / studies. In the summer I usually could pick the cooler days or times of day to mow.
• A yard or maybe two could be done in the hours after school prior to sun-down.
• If I wanted to increase wages I could take on extra yards to mow.
• If something came up (vacation) it was usually easy to get a friend to cover a few of the yards.
  

Now, what I don't understand is why lawn mowing has become much the domain of professional lawn services - at least from what I can tell in my neighborhood. Heck, at the going rate of mowing now kids could probably make a career of it if they wanted.