I'd have to ask, what would a 16 year old know about the "humiliation ritual" of job hunting? They have near-zero non-school responsibilities, near-zero if not zero creditors, no mortgage, no CC, if a car payment/car insurance exists, parents are on the hook, etc. Getting a McJob is great for the experience, but unimportant in the grand scheme of what is actually required of them or the pressures of 'real life', not to diminish the importance of schooling.

And do we really care what a developer is, be it age, previous non-tech job experience, or any other metric? It almost seems like an Internet meme at this point.