What can teenagers learn from working?
Have you ever had a part-time job? If so, where did you work and what did you do? If not, do you want to have this experience by the time you graduate from high school? Why or why not?
What do you think teenagers can learn from working?
In the Opinion essay “The Best Extracurricular May Be an After-School Job,” Pamela Paul, a columnist who worked multiple jobs in high school during the late 1980s, presents an argument for why students today should work:
Lots of American teenagers need to work after school to help support their families. But there’s a case to be made that those who don’t need to work should get a job anyway.
Lots of American teenagers need to work after school to help support their families. But there’s a case to be made that those who don’t need to work should get a job anyway.
Conditions couldn’t be more optimal. Unemployment, close to a 50-year low, has made the kinds of jobs well suited to kids — no prior experience, minimum wage, part-time — more widely available. Yet fewer teenagers work nowadays than a generation ago. The share of teenagers in the work force has risen from a low of roughly a quarter in 2010 to about a third of older teenagers holding down a job of one kind or another since the pandemic. But when I was in high school in the late 1980s, around half of 16- to 19-year-olds held jobs. Gen X parents who grew up working after-school shifts at the local drugstore often lament the fact that their own children haven’t always had the same opportunities.
Many instead favor an array of extracurricular activities that burnish their college applications, like student government and peer tutoring. This may be a mistake even for those parents and kids more concerned about college admissions than about what happens after that. Consider that having an afternoon job cultivates skills like time management and instills a sense of independence and personal responsibility — attributes that many college administrators say some students today lack.
But after-school jobs teach more concrete lessons as well. Personally, I learned more from working outside school — starting with three afternoons a week when I was 14 and ending with three jobs juggled, seven days a week, my senior year of high school — than I did in the classroom.
Students, read the entire essay, and then tell us:
Are you convinced by the argument that teenagers should get an after-school job, whether they need one or not? What do you think are the author’s most persuasive points? Is there anything you think she overlooked — either in support of or against teenagers working?
Ms. Paul lists what she sees as 10 valuable things she learned from the part-time jobs she held as a teenager. Which do you think are the most important? If you have had a job, what would you put on your own list of lessons from working?
Would you have time for a part-time job if you needed or wanted one? Would it be worth giving up extracurricular activities, studying time or your free time to get a job instead? Why or why not? Based on what you know about college admissions, do you think admissions committees value work experience enough? Do you think they should value it more than they do? Would you be more likely to get a job if they did? Ms. Paul says that she learned more at work than she did in the classroom. Have you ever felt that way about an experience you had outside of school? What did you learn about yourself, others or life in general? So I am from India and the culture and the thinking might be different. Also please note that my knowledge about USA is purely based out of movies, TV shows and posts on reddit.
What things can young teenagers learn to get a good career?
So, I see in a lot of posts and in tv shows, that kids, even in affluent families who don't need additional income from their kids, start working at a young age. I mean you have to work all your life, isn't it better that you focus on studies, sports and just enjoying your life when you're a student. I would want my kid to have a chill life and not be under steess of working. So, just wanted some clarity, why kids work while financially they don't really need it. Thanks. What are your thoughts on working part-time jobs as a teenager?
I (18M) currently work for £9.20/hr at a super market and feel like I’m sort of wasting my younger years. Say I work 30 hours a week, that’s like £270 odd, which could be made in a few days of full time ‘adult work’. But for me, that’s a full 10 hour day on the weekend, and 2 shifts after school. Is there much point working for £9.20 when I could be relaxing my more ‘free’ years, as the requirements of making an equal amount in the future is far less, if that makes sense. I of course could work less hours, such 10 or 15, but then i have the commitment of a job, but not a whole lot of money for having fun/investing. Please please don’t take this in the sense that I’m ungrateful for even having a job, I really am lucky to even have a job in these times, hence why I don’t quit. Also I understand £9.20 is above the minimum wage. First of all, I started working when I was 13 many, many years ago and yes, I liked having the extra money, but I missed out on so many things during my high school years. I think kids should be studying, or playing sports, participating in theater, band, or any of the numerous other curricular activities. We've been taught that the only thing that counts is work and making money. I think that's one of the reasons why we have so many depressed teens - and adults. Society tells us that the things that bring us joy are a waste of time. I’m so sick of seeing teenagers sucking on their parents money and then once graduating high school and getting a job complaining about how hard working is and having no money management skills Boo fucking hoo. You learn so much from having a job during high school it shouldn’t be avoided.
If your 16-18 have no job yet own the newest phone/PC/Clothes. I will assume you’re lazy and entitled because chances are you probably are too. I currently work as a courtesy clerk at a supermarket, and I absolutely hate it. The managers are incompetent, my schedule is always awful, I don't get the hours I need, and when I am there I am miserable.
I've been thinking about quitting and finding somewhere else but I think busing and fast food would both be just as bad and I can't think of a whole lot else I can do. What are some jobs for someone under 18 that aren't horrible and miserable?
What do you think teenagers can learn from working?
In the Opinion essay “The Best Extracurricular May Be an After-School Job,” Pamela Paul, a columnist who worked multiple jobs in high school during the late 1980s, presents an argument for why students today should work:
Lots of American teenagers need to work after school to help support their families. But there’s a case to be made that those who don’t need to work should get a job anyway.
Lots of American teenagers need to work after school to help support their families. But there’s a case to be made that those who don’t need to work should get a job anyway.
Conditions couldn’t be more optimal. Unemployment, close to a 50-year low, has made the kinds of jobs well suited to kids — no prior experience, minimum wage, part-time — more widely available. Yet fewer teenagers work nowadays than a generation ago. The share of teenagers in the work force has risen from a low of roughly a quarter in 2010 to about a third of older teenagers holding down a job of one kind or another since the pandemic. But when I was in high school in the late 1980s, around half of 16- to 19-year-olds held jobs. Gen X parents who grew up working after-school shifts at the local drugstore often lament the fact that their own children haven’t always had the same opportunities.
Many instead favor an array of extracurricular activities that burnish their college applications, like student government and peer tutoring. This may be a mistake even for those parents and kids more concerned about college admissions than about what happens after that. Consider that having an afternoon job cultivates skills like time management and instills a sense of independence and personal responsibility — attributes that many college administrators say some students today lack.
But after-school jobs teach more concrete lessons as well. Personally, I learned more from working outside school — starting with three afternoons a week when I was 14 and ending with three jobs juggled, seven days a week, my senior year of high school — than I did in the classroom.
Students, read the entire essay, and then tell us:
Are you convinced by the argument that teenagers should get an after-school job, whether they need one or not? What do you think are the author’s most persuasive points? Is there anything you think she overlooked — either in support of or against teenagers working?
Ms. Paul lists what she sees as 10 valuable things she learned from the part-time jobs she held as a teenager. Which do you think are the most important? If you have had a job, what would you put on your own list of lessons from working?
Would you have time for a part-time job if you needed or wanted one? Would it be worth giving up extracurricular activities, studying time or your free time to get a job instead? Why or why not? Based on what you know about college admissions, do you think admissions committees value work experience enough? Do you think they should value it more than they do? Would you be more likely to get a job if they did? Ms. Paul says that she learned more at work than she did in the classroom. Have you ever felt that way about an experience you had outside of school? What did you learn about yourself, others or life in general? So I am from India and the culture and the thinking might be different. Also please note that my knowledge about USA is purely based out of movies, TV shows and posts on reddit.
What things can young teenagers learn to get a good career?
So, I see in a lot of posts and in tv shows, that kids, even in affluent families who don't need additional income from their kids, start working at a young age. I mean you have to work all your life, isn't it better that you focus on studies, sports and just enjoying your life when you're a student. I would want my kid to have a chill life and not be under steess of working. So, just wanted some clarity, why kids work while financially they don't really need it. Thanks. What are your thoughts on working part-time jobs as a teenager?
I (18M) currently work for £9.20/hr at a super market and feel like I’m sort of wasting my younger years. Say I work 30 hours a week, that’s like £270 odd, which could be made in a few days of full time ‘adult work’. But for me, that’s a full 10 hour day on the weekend, and 2 shifts after school. Is there much point working for £9.20 when I could be relaxing my more ‘free’ years, as the requirements of making an equal amount in the future is far less, if that makes sense. I of course could work less hours, such 10 or 15, but then i have the commitment of a job, but not a whole lot of money for having fun/investing. Please please don’t take this in the sense that I’m ungrateful for even having a job, I really am lucky to even have a job in these times, hence why I don’t quit. Also I understand £9.20 is above the minimum wage. First of all, I started working when I was 13 many, many years ago and yes, I liked having the extra money, but I missed out on so many things during my high school years. I think kids should be studying, or playing sports, participating in theater, band, or any of the numerous other curricular activities. We've been taught that the only thing that counts is work and making money. I think that's one of the reasons why we have so many depressed teens - and adults. Society tells us that the things that bring us joy are a waste of time. I’m so sick of seeing teenagers sucking on their parents money and then once graduating high school and getting a job complaining about how hard working is and having no money management skills Boo fucking hoo. You learn so much from having a job during high school it shouldn’t be avoided.
If your 16-18 have no job yet own the newest phone/PC/Clothes. I will assume you’re lazy and entitled because chances are you probably are too. I currently work as a courtesy clerk at a supermarket, and I absolutely hate it. The managers are incompetent, my schedule is always awful, I don't get the hours I need, and when I am there I am miserable.
I've been thinking about quitting and finding somewhere else but I think busing and fast food would both be just as bad and I can't think of a whole lot else I can do. What are some jobs for someone under 18 that aren't horrible and miserable?
