No need to be snarky. Have you been on any freelance sites recently? I've seen grown men bid less than $10/hour - I can't attest to the quality of said bidders, but they're out there in amass. All things considered, $12/hr as a 16 year old is not that bad. When I was 16, I made $5.9/hr working at a gas station.
That's nothing. When I was 16, I carried gas in a pail uphill from the pump to the car, and uphill back to the pump again, in the snow and in my barefeet for $5.9/hr