Thursday, February 16, 2012
Christopher's Time Management Essay
Christopher Cedillo
Professor Slobod
English 113B
9 January 2012
Time
Management
A
lot of times you hear the expression, “Do one or the other”, so you can focus
on one thing. What people do not realize is that both can be done at the same
time, it just takes a little bit of time management and organization to balance
these things out. “Time is a special resource that you cannot store or save for
later use”(Sasson). Working and going to school is one of the things many
people cannot do. Work is necessary for some because they need the money to pay
for college. However, many teens in high school think it is impossible to work
and do well in school. They seem to not have time to do homework, or study
during the week while working. All this however can be accomplished and done
when balanced proportionally. Working and being a good student is possible for
teens when they balance the two, and manage their time correctly because teens
have free time that could be used productively. Doing so, teens acquire the
knowledge of time management, responsibility and the worth of a dollar.
What
is time management? How can it be useful to someone? Time management is
organizing ones schedule of the day, week, month, etc. according to the things
they have to do. Time management can be a useful tool when balancing school and
work. Many teens waste countless hours per week watching TV, playing video games,
on the phone or doing nothing after school. These hours could be spent wisely
working at a job, that teaches responsibility and the value of a dollar.
Wasting hours on video games and TV leave you nothing but a headache. Teenagers
spend an average of 20 hours a week on electronics before and afterschool.
These hours could be used productively by going to work and saving up money for
big expenses, such as college or a car.
Jobs
help people in many ways. It helps people build responsibility and new skills.
Skills that can be used everyday, such as communication skills, being on time,
and handling money. It also provides people money so that they can either save it
wisely or spend it all. In these days, many things are really expensive and not
affordable to many. One of the big expenses people go through is paying for
college. College is really expensive and with more and more budget cuts, it as
hard for parents themselves to pay for college. Many young adults in college
sometimes do not appreciate their education because they had their parents pay
for it and working makes them realize the value of a dollar. Having teens work
they learn the value of a dollar at a younger age is important because by the
time there in college, they know the value of their education.
Teens
working to help pay for their college, makes them responsible because they
learn the value of their education and the job. A minimum waged job is not
something easy nor is it something you want to do for the rest of your life. A
minimum waged job is a job that most people are not willing to do. It’s usually
a fast paced job with working conditions that are not really safe. In Ashley
Halls student essay, Broke and bored: The Summer Job, one of the jobs she talks
about is at a restaurant whose working conditions were not to well. “Big Boy
restaurants are all equipped not only with buffets, germ cesspools, and blue
hair, but also with very slippery tile floors”(Hall). Ashley Halls’
interpretation of Bob’s Big Boy is an example of how working conditions are
when receiving minimum wage. Other fast food places, such as McDonalds could be
as bad as Big Boys or even worse. “Many low-level jobs within the service
industry do not require a great deal of skill, but they are sometimes
monotonous and entail manual labor. Teens might have to perform unpleasant
tasks, such as cleaning bathrooms or taking out trash, for these jobs”(Latzko).
These jobs that people do not want to do, are not safe for teenagers because it
puts in a position where they could get injured at anytime.
Not
all jobs however are awful and dangerous. There are other jobs teens can get
that are less stressing, and give you more money. A job that mostly any teen
can get is being a tutor. Mostly all school offer tutoring programs where
teenagers tutor other kids and get paid. All schools have some kind of
educational program where teenagers have the chance to make a buck. These easy
jobs are flexible with school schedules and help you raise some money.
One
of the easiest jobs I had in high school was babysitting two times during the
week for moms, friends’ children. The
two kids were age ten and seven. They liked to play with their Legos and watch TV
but homework came first. I sat with them at the table helping them with their
homework and sometimes I was able to finish mine. Even though I got five dollars
an hour, I liked it because I was able to balance my schoolwork and my job at
the same time. I also knew other friends that would tutor at school and would
get money for it. Most school jobs are easy to attain and are flexible with
school hours.
Not all jobs however are easy to manage right
away. Other jobs take up more time, which requires better use of time
productively. Time consuming jobs at restaurants like Ashley Hall mentioned
about Big Boy, take up a lot of hours throughout the day. This is why many
teenagers who work in high school end up slacking off in school. They put so much time into their job that
they forget about the most important job of all, their education. They get too
overwhelmed with work that they don’t feel like doing homework or studying for
the next exam. “Teenagers working more than 20 hours a week were more likely to
engage in substance abuse and have lower grade point averages”(Walker). There
are not that many hours during the week and with teenagers working over twenty
hours, it is hard for them to get homework done, sleep or even have time to
rest.
Teenagers
slack off because they begin to love making money and forget about school. They
seam to not care about school anymore because they are making money. “Students who
work more than 20 hours a week have grade point averages that are lower than
other students who work 10 or fewer hours a week”(Walker). At times teenagers drop out because they feel
like school is not going to get them anywhere and a job is. The low paying jobs
however, are not enough to live the rest of your life off. They think the money they are earning is
great, but its no enough to succeed and live your life off. Also, “Research
suggests that substance abuse is higher for students who work 20 or more hours
per week”(Walker). Working and going to school can cause any person to get
stressed. Teenagers working so many hours and balancing school, tend to fall
into the use alcoholic substances, cigarettes or drugs because they are under
constant stress.
Working
in high school is good preparation for when you have to work in college. Jobs
teach teens how to effectively manage finances. Even if the teen is simply
using their earnings to pay for their own expenses, they will learn to budget
between clothes, movies, and car expenses. They work off to pay expenses, such
as gas, rent, phone bill etc. Working in high school is an advantage when
working in college because you already have an idea of the schedule you need to do when balancing the
two. Teens also “gain useful, marketable skills such as improving their
communication, learning how to handle people, developing interview skills and
filling out job applications”(Walker). Finding a job is easier when you have a
basic idea of the requirements jobs look for. Working in high school and then
transitioning to college is not overwhelming anymore because the skills you
learned before to balance out your time can now be used in college.
When
getting a job, you are taking the first steps towards responsibility, which
will help you in college and as an adult. You will learn things like the
importance of being on time, new skills, and the importance of earning a
dollar. You begin to realize the value of other things as well. Learning how to
balance work and school is possible for any teenager. All this can be done with
a little bit of time management and organization.
Money
is what makes the world go around, but when used improperly it causes peoples
lives to go down the drain. An education makes a person acquire the knowledge
to live better and have a better, less stressing and secure job in the future.
Both earning money at a job and going to school to get a better job, can be
hard to balance with ought time management. Money can sometimes suck a person into
dropping out of school and working forever because they feel like they cannot
do both. Not learning the proper skills as a teenager on how to handle time and
balancing work and school can be really heavy to someone new. Teenagers are
able to do both when they learn to use time management efficiently. “Through
right time management, you can “create” the time you need, and not just wait
for it to come. By planning your time wisely, you will have more time to do
more things”(Sasson). Teenagers learn many responsibilities when they balance
school and work. With this knowledge and experience they become hard working
and responsible adults.
Works
Cited
Hall,
Ashley. "Student Essay: Broke and Bored: The Summer Job." Writing
with a Thesis. By
Sarah E. Skwire and David Skwire.
Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2011. 102-03. Print.
Latzko, Laura. "What Jobs Can
Teenagers Have? | EHow.com." EHow | How to Videos, Articles
&
More - Discover the Expert in You. | EHow.com. 16 Feb. 2011. Web.
07 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.ehow.com/info_7946663_jobs-can-teenagers.html>.
Sasson, Remez. "Importance of Time
Management." Self Improvement - Spiritual Growth –
Inner
Peace - SuccessConsciousness. 20 May 2008. Web. 09 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.successconsciousness.com/blog/time-management/importance-of-time-
management/>.
Walker, Rosemarie. "Teenagers and
Part-Time Jobs: Benefits, Drawbacks and Tips «." 29 Apr.
2011.
Web. 07 Feb. 2012. <http://middleearthnj.wordpress.com/2010/04/02/teenagers-
and-part-time-jobs-benefits-drawbacks-and-tips/>.
Julia's Money and Happiness essay
Julia Steuer
February 7, 2012
English 113B
Professor Slobod
Money
and Happiness
Can money buy happiness, or does misery come
with the lack of money? I personally do not think a lot of money is necessarily
need for happiness. Although, when there is lack of money one cannot
enjoy life due to the stresses of a lack of necessities needed to live
comfortably . Necessities such as a home and food, things you need for a
family.
As I read an essay by Amitai Etzioni, “Working
at McDonald’s”, I saw how it angered he got over the fact that kids work at
McDonald’s. It angered him because he sees that once these kids start working
there they will be more likely to put work over school. When a teenager puts
money before school it stands in the way of their ability to achieve their
highest potential in the future. As he states, “While it is true that these
places provide income, work and even some training to such youngsters, they
also ten to perpetuate their disadvantaged status. They provide no career
ladders, few marketable skills, and undermine school attendance and
involvement.” (317) If that is so, then why do teenagers have jobs if it
has been seen to result in low wage jobs for their future? Any person likes to
have a comfortable set of money to be able to buy objects that they will enjoy,
or necessities they will feel proud to buy with their own money instead of
their parents’. Regardless of age money is something even teenagers need to at
least consume to feel meaning in their lives. I do not believe it is how
much money that makes a person happy but enough to live the life they want
to.
Most
people would accept that the human being is a composite of body, mind and
spirit. Each of those parts has separate needs which must be fulfilled if
happiness is to result. This fulfillment is most often, though not always,
achieved through the love and companionship found in a good marriage. The
newly-weds referred to above may start out together with few possessions and
little money and still be blissfully happy. Body, mind and spirit are
fulfilled. Yet, marital happiness is not a static thing. As the couple grow
older they change, and happiness has to be constantly worked for a lifelong
love and friendship. Sadly enough the divorce rate in the west shows that many
couples lack that incentive, and are not prepared to show the unselfishness and
willingness to put the needs of each other first, necessary if happiness is to
last. Very often, this process of alienation goes on at the very time when the
couple are getting past their money problems, when the pennies no longer have
to be counted.
This
situation is highlighted when money never has been a problem. Differences in
outlook, i.e. in mind and spirit, sever relationships most effectively. Whereas
one royal, for instance, was interested only in farming and country pursuits,
the wife, some years ago, decided to devote her life to 'Save the Children'.
Money never entered the equation. They are permanently separated. Mind and spirit
had grown apart.
In
an interesting editorial of an online informational site, Neil Patel talks
about happiness and the idea that no one needs to be rich. He thinks being rich
is unnecessary and takes money away from necessities other people don’t have. While
that being a hole different argument, Patel exaggerates on the idea that
getting what you need and getting what you want are two very different
obstacles in life that people often see as the same. When people have enough
money to a live an enjoyable and stress- free life, that is where the obstacle
for more money should end. He talks about how a man with five children should
make more than a man with two children. The savage competitiveness for money
has become such a power struggle in our world we can’t even stop to live our
lives. Patel says, “...you don’t need much money to live a comfortable
lifestyle. If you are trying to be an entrepreneur to make millions of dollars,
that’s great! But if you only need to make $10,000 or $20,000 a month to live a
great lifestyle, there are much more easier ways to make that money.” Why drive
yourself crazy to make more money than you need?
To succeed in life one
must have the accessories to succeed, and one of those accessories is money. A
lot of people these days go to college and high school on scholarship or have
student loans. Without school it is hard to succeed in a world like ours in
this day and age. Without money you can’t go to school and without school it
has been known you probably won’t live to your highest potential in life.
Thankfully there is such a thing as student loans and scholarships. Schools are
so much money these days if there weren’t programs and organizations that aided
us with money a lot less people would go to school. A society where only the
people with money can be the only people who live comfortable lives would be
barbaric.
So at least this can be said. Money itself is
neutral. The ideal is wise stewardship, i.e. its proper use, which generally
means making one's existing lifestyle more comfortable, but using excess income
for charitable purposes. Money should not be seen as the key to luxury and
self-indulgence. Money is not the root of all evil, but the correct version is
true enough; the love of money is the root of all evil . The love of money is a
cold, alienating obsession. Was Howard Hughes a happy man?
What
can also be said is that whereas money cannot buy happiness, the lack of it can
bring misery. Few things are worse than debt, as the family of Charles Dickens'
Mr Micawber knew full well. It is the duty of men, and in many cases today of
women, to provide enough money for the family to live in reasonable comfort. It
is not their duty to provide that comfort by going into debt. The modern way of
doing so is through the credit card which, if abused, is the sure road to
unhappiness.
There
is, perhaps, one sense in which money can buy happiness, and that is among the
poorest of the poor in the third world. Happiness for them would be a safe
home, enough food, medical care, and a school for their children. One day, the
conscience of the world will ensure that they are given these things.
It
is true that at weddings we often hear the newly-weds toasted in the words
Health, Wealth and Happiness, but the label itself distinguishes between the
three objectives. The fact is that you can be both happy and healthy and poor,
by normal standards, at the same time. Yet, if you are unhappy, money can only
cure your misery in some circumstances. And if you have an incurable illness no
amount of money can buy the treatment to reverse that condition.
On
the other hand, some may go to the extreme where money bring no happiness at
all, that it only corrupts people. In Forbes magazine’s online website there is
an article titled “Money, Happiness And The Pursuit Of Both” by Elizabeth
MacDonald, she talks about how we are never fully satisfied with what we have.
She believes that once we have money we spend our lives trying to get more and
once we get what we think we want we end up loosing the things we actually care
about and need. “Not only do we want what we don't have, we really don't know
what we want, and we think the things that we want will make us happy, which
they tend not to do.” Her ideas, backed up by much research, is undoubtably correct
in some cases, but not all. Depending on who you are talking about it could be
true. You could be talking about a selfish, stubborn, power hungry old man, in
which case it is true that money has corrupted him and taken over his life and
his ability to see the world. In this old man’s case MacDonald is probably
correct in saying that he would have been better off living a life struggling
to live comfortably. He probably would have had a loving family and much more
health rather than his life that has been based solely on work.
Although
MacDonald makes great and non- arguable points, I just believe that people can
be comfortable with what they have even if it isn’t much they still have things
in their lives other than objects that mean more in the end. Money is a problem
when you don’t have it, which a lot of people unluckily have to deal with. So,
with the lucky ones who get to experience being comfortable enough where money
is not a problem happiness can be achieved. Money does not bring happiness, but
lack of stands in the way of that happiness.
Bibliogrophy
- Etzioni, Amitai. "Working at McDonald's." Writing with a Thesis: A Rhetoric and Reader. By Sarah E. Skwire and David Skwire. Vol. 11. Boston: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2005. 315-18. Print.
- MacDonald, Elizabeth. "Money, Happiness And The Pursuit Of Both." Information for the World's Business Leaders - Forbes.com. Forbes Magazine, 14 Feb. 2006. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. <http://www.forbes.com/2006/02/11/money-happiness-consumption_cz_em_money06_0214pursuit.html>.
- Patel, Neil. "How Much Money Do You Really Need?" Quick Sprout — I’m Kind of a Big Deal. Quick Sprout, 5 Feb. 2011. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. <http://www.quicksprout.com/2011/03/16/how-much-money-do-you-really-need/>.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tamara Gilmore Essay: Is it Worth Working?
Tamara Gilmore
Mrs. Slobod
English 113B
9 February 2012
It
is worth working?
As long as America has been a liberated nation, men and
woman alike have been working back breaking jobs to ensure economic stability
for their families as well as circulate funds within the nation. Many of the initial
jobs worked across the nation required employers to work on their hands and
feet for long periods of time all week long. Some of them even went without
breaks and went home at late hours in the evening only to return a few hours
later. However as time passed in history, the conditions in the working field
improved allowing comfort ability for them and they began receiving much more
than they did in the past. Jobs began offering benefits, lighter workloads were
established, and a new found respect was granted to the employers over time. These
conditions were recorded in various places in history but also in present day
literature such as books and journal entries; some were even short stories. In an essay called, “Broke and Bored; The Summer Job” by Ashley Hall and a short story
called, “Why I quit the Company” by
Tomoyuki Iwashita, both authors underwent difficult working conditions that
made them quit their jobs. Their reasons to discontinue employment were very
different and it is rather common. Working under a professional establishment
of any kind, requires people of the proper age and maturity level. Otherwise
workers are prone to; perform poorly, protest, and play around or even quit.
When young people
hit a certain age, they have the desire to work. They begin applying for jobs and many of them
are hired for various positions of any kind. Most of them include working with
fast food, looking after children or as assistant to older people on average. Some
argue that jobs like these are not enough to teach them the value of hard work
or even encourages them proper work ethic. Newt Gingrich had much to say on the
topic of teenage employment, stating that, “Americans have lost their work
ethic, and some never had one to lose. They grow up -- or put more precisely,
they're raised -- thinking of so many jobs as beneath them that they wake up
one day not knowing how to do any job.”(CNN.com) Gingrich’s point is not the
type of jobs worked, but rather those that apply for these positions have no
experience and believe themselves worthy of such a responsibility. While there
are jobs that demand such responsibility, there are those that would care less
what one did on duty.
There
are millions of jobs across the United States that are fast-food based alone
and many of them are hard working, while just as many are not. In Ashley Hall’s
student essay, “Broke and Bored: The Summer Job”, she goes down a list of jobs
she had that required very little, work ethic, or even sanitation for that
matter, what so ever. Often times she was, “usually tasked with the absurdly
dull and messy job of combining the content of ketchup containers when any of
them were low”, which is not considered real work to some (Hall 102). That in itself is boring and disturbing to
know that different ketchups are combined so that others do not run out, but
also was one of the pesky tasks she had to deal with. As people began working in
these factories many of them had no idea of how they should be treated. A lot
of times workers were mistreated and made to work harder and harder each day.
Along with being bombarded with tedious tasks, she saw fit to “dump food into a
customer’s lap” in order to be taken home early. She saw it as being “clumsy”
and an “easy way to be sent home early, but others would argue she was not old
enough or even mature enough to handle her job correctly. Although she would
purposefully have fun or do things her way on the job, she was still getting
hired. It was something she did or was able to show the people hiring, that she
was capable of working no matter her age. As a teenager barely doing anything
now behind a counter or serving customers, there have been those twice as young
as she was that did way more work than she could have imagined.
During
the early nineteenth century, the Industrial Revolution took over the hearts
and minds of the wealthy to keep up with advancing means of transportation but
also money making. At this time workers
were being pushed to exceed many heights and lengths to please their bosses or overseers.
While many worked dangerous jobs like working in mills, others worked in factories
and coal mines. These were more than examples of such hard times offered for
men, woman, and children of all ages. In those times it did not matter the
maturity level of the individual. If they were healthy and stood on two feet,
they were seen fit to work. Those that worked were pulled from everywhere,
often times leaving their families. Many found it hard to work not because they
were not being treated fairly but because mainly they did not have a choice
like we do now. In the short story “Why I
Quit the Company”, Tomoyuki Iwashita explains the hardships endured by the
company that offered him employment. He was forced to uphold standards that
were previously set for him; for everybody. He was forced to go to dinners and
golf with co-workers even “drinking with colleagues after work [was] part of
the job; so you can’t say no”,(Iwashita 213). It was if he was almost being
controlled and his every move was monitored.
All the while he was going by every rule and doing everything that was
expected of him, he was still being mistreated. Every day at five o’clock pm,
it was understood by the Labor Union that the workers went home at that time.
Little did they know that was not the case in fac they were being held much
later and forced to return hours later for the new day. (Iwashita 213) He was
also shocked at the fact that no one else felt that same way about this as he
did. After all, everyone was connected and affected by the same rules,
regulations and expectations set by them by the company itself. Ultimately,
Iwashita quit his company due to the lack of freedom and respect he longed for
as a worker. He felt that the Labor Union was being deceived and could care
less if any of the workers had a complaint what so ever. . It was unfair to him and he was shocked
that no one else could see it too. Even with a vast amount of education and
maturity, Iwashita had, he could not do
his job the way he wanted to. Without fair
and just treatment he decided to leave to factory on his own terms, refusing to
work there any longer. In leaving on own personal reasons there are those that
leave on the different accounts.
While people leave jobs for lack of just and fair treatment,
others leave their positions on the account of the boss’s decision to “let them
go” or to simply “fire them”. In the past, all types of people from all ages
were known to work in factories and much harder working areas, jobs with lower
status were expected to be occupied by teenagers and adolescents. A job that
included flipping hamburgers, baby sitting or associated with a newspaper in
any fashion was designed for adolescent and young adults. These jobs were
starter jobs and served as an example of those that could help them understand
the value of a dollar and even the value of hard work. That hard work included
waking up every morning and not leaving until the evening. They were also expected
to follow instruction from a higher authority every day on the job. These jobs offered
good enough pay and also were designed to be enough to where they were not overwhelmed,
but while they were not enough work, some of them saw fit to have a little bit
of recreation. Hall shared her experience as a worker in a fast food
restaurant, a baby sitter and also as a writer for a newspaper, all one summer
after another. Her first job was almost a disaster. She worked only to mess up
patties and play around in the back on and off break. She claimed that “she was
bored”. When she was on duty over the kids during the next summer, the kids she
looked after saw it fit to load slingshots and shoot items across the yard
outside. (Hall 104) She was bored on the job and her working conditions were anything
but professional. She was informally over the children and they were able to
talk her into playing with them. As a young adult, she was subject to do so
because she naturally wanted to have fun. Due to her informal working conditions, she
was subject to perform poorly and unable to work without being “let go”. Her
maturity level during this job was also not very high o developed. She could
prove that she was worth hiring but when it came down to it, she failed.
When
looking for employers, those seeking them out must test to see not only their
skills, but also if they can handle the job they are offering. It is for these
things that working conditions testing to see if young people should be up for
employment must be modified. It is hard enough to find jobs in present day
America anywhere, and many of them are taken up by immature individuals. In
order for the people to fully benefit from those offering their service, the
work being done must be performed right by those that are more productive.
Work
Cited
Hall, Ashley. "Broke and Bored: The Summer
Job." Writing with a Thesis. 11th ed. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 102-03.
Print.
Iwashita, Tomoyuki. "Why I Quit the Company." Writing
with a Thesis. 11th ed. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 213-15. Print.
Working Conditions in the Industrial Revolution." School
History.org. N.p., n.d. Web.
<http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/IndustrialRevolution/workingconditions.htm>.
Jr., Ruben Navarrette. "Gingrich Dared to Speak
Truth on Teens' Work Ethic." CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S., World,
Weather, Entertainment & Video News. By Ruben Navarrette Jr., CNN
Contributor, 8 Dec. 2011. Web. 09 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/07/opinion/navarrette-newt-gingrich/index.html>.
Victoria Cuthbertson Essay
Victoria
Cuthbertson
Professor Slobod
Engl 113B
7 February 2012
When
Will They Learn
More
and more teens are beginning to work in today’s society. Though working can
instill qualities such as responsibility, dependability, financial
understanding, and self-discipline with many of the jobs that teens receive in today’s
society these qualities are often not taught or learned. As a result of the
media and consumerism most teens gain jobs so they can afford material things
instead of working to achieve financial stability, which as a result continues
on into their adult lives. Often teen jobs can deter students from school which
makes it hard for them to achieve success and financial solidity in the future.
Because they lack an education it is hard for teens to obtain a job that can
economically support them and their needs. Also because they were never taught
the value of a dollar or how to properly manage their finances they struggle
with strategizing how to use the money they do have. Though some teens have managed
to learn these values through their jobs, often these values are missed or not
taught at all.
Consumerism
is defined as: “a
modern movement for
the protection of the consumer
against useless, inferior, or dangerous products, misleading advertising, and
unfair pricing; the concept that an ever-expanding consumption of goods is
advantageous to the economy; the fact or practice of an increasing consumption
of good.”(Dictionary, 2012) Often the reason that teens work to gain or retain
jobs are due to consumerism, their want or “need” to poses a item or good is
what forces them to go out in search for jobs. Many would say they do not
disagree with teens working for what they want, but what some fail to realize
is that’s all that these teens are working for. It is a good quality to teach
young adults to work for what they want in life, but you also have to teach
them how to save and spend the money they earn. Teaching teens how to become
financially stable and manage their money are what these jobs should really try
to teach their young employees. As a result of being miss educated in their
finances teens work day in and day out in hopes to buy the latest Jordan’s or a
new Gucci purse, because according to the media that’s what you have to have to
be considered “fly or hot.” These bad habits that where developed as a teen
then carries on into their adult life where they value shoes or purses more
than a education, and instead of college they decide to work a stream of dead
end jobs just to be able to afford the material things they want. On the
contrary if they would have been taught to save money and manage their money
correctly as a teen and spent less time working and more focused on school,
they would have continued on to graduate from college. As a result they would
have obtained a career that would have allowed them to afford all the material
things they wanted and still manage to be financially stable. It is not wrong
to want material things but it is bad for your want of material things to
consume you.
In
Amitai Etzioni short story “Working at McDonalds” he explains why he feels that
teen jobs at McDonalds and other fast food restaurants are not beneficial for
teens to have. “These jobs undermine school attendance and involvement, impart
few skills that will be useful in later life, and simultaneously skew the
values of teen-agers especially their ideas about the worth of a dollar…”
(316). Though Etzioni does no support jobs at McDonalds he does however commend
jobs such as Lemonade stands and paper routes, he feels these jobs teach teens
and children positive values. “…few pursuits are more deeply revered then than
the newspaper route and the sidewalk lemonade stand. Here the youngsters are to
learn how sweet are the fruits of labor and self-discipline (papers are
delivered early in the morning, rain or shine), and the way of trade (if you
price your lemonade too high or too low)…” (316). In addition to not learning
values Etzioni feels that teen jobs do not teach teens the importance of a
dollar. “Where the money goes is not quite clear…But large amounts seem to flow
to pay for an early introduction into most trite aspects of American
consumerism: flimsy punk clothes, trinkets and whatever else is the last
fast-moving teen craze…” (318). Lastly Etzioni says that teen jobs require too
much attention and results in students lacking in school. “The hours are often
long. Among those 14 to 17, a third of fast food employees (including some
school dropouts) labor more than 30 hours per week... only 20 percent work
15hours or less. The rest: between 15 and 30 hours… In an informal survey
published in the most recent yearbook of the high school, 58 percent of seniors
acknowledged that their jobs interfere with their school work.” (317).
Many
would disagree and say that teen jobs are a positive thing and teach teens
great values and morals that they would not get any other place. In the article
“Teens and the Part-time Job: The Pros and Cons of Letting Your High School
Student Work” by Sara Richmond
Walls she explain why she feels
teen jobs are beneficial to a teen. “In many ways, it is a win-win
situation. They can use the money to help you pay for their college, or to pay
for their own gas. Your student, in return, receives the knowledge of
responsibility and what it means to earn a dollar.”(Teens and the Part-time Job,
Richmond, 2011) Richmond also feels that by teens working it releases a burden
of the finances of the parent whether it is big or small. “…the slight amount
of stress taken off of your wallet. Perhaps you don’t have to pay for their gas
anymore, or their I-Tunes downloads. Even if they aren’t making enough to pay
their way through college, they are helping take some of the financial burden
off of you, specifically for perks like dinner and a movie out with friends.”
(Teens and the Part-time Job, Richmond, 2011) As well as helping you Richmond
feels this will help to teach your teen the value of a dollar. “In addition to
the added income, there is no doubt that most individuals do not truly
appreciate a hard-earned dollar until they’ve earned it themselves.” (Teens and
the Part-time Job, Richmond, 2011) In
addition to them learning the value of a dollar teens can also learn how to
manage the money that they do earn while working. “With your student working a
part-time job, you can teach him or her the importance of saving, balancing a
checkbook, and setting financial goals.” (Teens and the Part-time Job,
Richmond, 2011) By teens working they
are also gaining confidence and the feeling of being accomplished by their own
actions, “They will have a sense of accomplishment with each paycheck…” (Teens
and the Part-time Job, Richmond, 2011) Lastly and most importantly they will
value their own money more then they value the money of their parents. “…and
chances are, they won’t spend their own money the way they’ve been spending
yours!” (Teens and the Part-time Job, Richmond, 2011) According to Sara
Richmond teens that work learn many different values and tools that they can
use in the future. Though these are all great points and for some teens are
useful lessons that they have learned many teens do not learn these lessons by
the jobs that they obtain, because there is no one around them who enforces or
teaches them the importance of all these things.
Being
a high school student today is something that requires much attention and focus,
from AP and honor courses to SAT’s and college applications high school is a
full time job. For me personally trying to work and go to school was not an
easy task. When I first began working everything was fine and I had managed to
work and still maintain a high GPA in school, but as time progressed and I
began working more and more hours trying to make more money I seen my school
work suffer. Thinking I could handle it I went from working 20 hours a week to
almost 35 hours a week. Because I was so tired after I would get home from work
I would often rush through my homework or just wouldn’t do it at all. Even
after my mom suggest I quit I was so caught up in the money that I was willing
to give up my future by failing high school. I did eventually quit my job
because I realized that yes I enjoyed the money I was making and being able to
buy what I want when I want it, but that money and job would only take me so
far in life but an education and school would take me a lot further. I know
that there are some teens that can manage working and going to school and still
continue on and further their education. I also know that there are some teens
who gain valuable life lessons from working while they are in high school and I
think these are all positive aspects of having a job as a teen. But the odds
that these things will happen in today’s world are very unlikely. Due to the
atmosphere and structure of most jobs that teens receive today they rarely gain
any morals, values, or lessons. I understand that teens want to make money and
be “independent” but jobs require a lot of attention and energy that they need
to invest into school and their education not into a job.
Work
Cited
"Consumerism."
Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 4
Feb. 2012. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/consumerism>.
Skwire,
Sarah E., and David Skwire. Writing with a thesis. 11th ed.,
International ed. Boston, Mass.: Wadsworth, 2011. Print.
Walls,
Sara Richmond. "Teens and the Part-time Job: The Pros and Cons of Letting
Your High School Student Work - FamilyLobby.com." Family related
articles at FamilyLobby.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2012.
<http://articles.familylobby.com/281-teens-and-the-part-time-job3a-the-pros-and-co.htm>.
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