cdif, I'll add that all of what you say may be valid, it's just not tactful, in this case, to point it out. Not a necessary cross to bear. But, much like the Top 10 beers, to each his/her own.
as for having the kid "do it himself", I am a believer in this sort of thing too, but in this case it would come across as extremely self-serving.
One of my rules when hiring kids, is that I immediately rule out a kid if his parent came in to ask for the job for him/her. It is important for teens to learn to do things for themselves, and it sounds like this kid has a pretty good grip on that, I just don't think this is a case where he could campaign for himself without it being a detriment. It's got to be Mom, Dad or friends pulling for him in this case.