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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