Confessions of a Working Teen
Confessions of a Working Teen
When I took my first real job at age sixteen, it was ironically exciting. Working always seemed like a “grown-up thing”, something that defined a teenager as an emerging young adult. Finding my first opportunity of employment at McDonald’s was not exactly glamorous, but it was a stepping-stone in life I’d been waiting to take. I entered the experience with open arms and was ready to learn the ropes, but left with a feeling of regret in the end. Parents encourage their kids to learn true responsibility and the value of money, which are highly important aspects of growing up. But having a job at such a ripe age steered attention away from my true responsibility; school. Entry-level jobs such as McDonald’s are more destructive than beneficial in many ways. They require too many hours from teens, provide a negative perception of the working environment, and make it extremely hard to fully focus on one’s education.
At my high school and at many others in southern California there is a program called Work Experience. It allows students to leave school an hour or two earlier to go to work. And in return, those students gain class credits. Sounds pretty cool right? I decided to join the class my senior year and agreed to work at least twenty hours a week. I had only been working fifteen hours a week and thought “Why not? It’s only five more hours.” But I quickly learned those twenty hours were much more than I could handle. I began working five to eight-hour shifts almost daily and sometimes not getting home until 11 o’ clock at night.
I was desperate to cut back, but knew I couldn’t jeopardize my grade in work experience. Failing work experience meant not graduating, and that clearly was not an option. One may consider the fact that not every working student is in this kind of program, and could willingly cut back their hours when needed. But in reality, my situation was substantially better than my piers. I left school at 1:00 pm to
When I took my first real job at age sixteen, it was ironically exciting. Working always seemed like a “grown-up thing”, something that defined a teenager as an emerging young adult. Finding my first opportunity of employment at McDonald’s was not exactly glamorous, but it was a stepping-stone in life I’d been waiting to take. I entered the experience with open arms and was ready to learn the ropes, but left with a feeling of regret in the end. Parents encourage their kids to learn true responsibility and the value of money, which are highly important aspects of growing up. But having a job at such a ripe age steered attention away from my true responsibility; school. Entry-level jobs such as McDonald’s are more destructive than beneficial in many ways. They require too many hours from teens, provide a negative perception of the working environment, and make it extremely hard to fully focus on one’s education.
At my high school and at many others in southern California there is a program called Work Experience. It allows students to leave school an hour or two earlier to go to work. And in return, those students gain class credits. Sounds pretty cool right? I decided to join the class my senior year and agreed to work at least twenty hours a week. I had only been working fifteen hours a week and thought “Why not? It’s only five more hours.” But I quickly learned those twenty hours were much more than I could handle. I began working five to eight-hour shifts almost daily and sometimes not getting home until 11 o’ clock at night.
I was desperate to cut back, but knew I couldn’t jeopardize my grade in work experience. Failing work experience meant not graduating, and that clearly was not an option. One may consider the fact that not every working student is in this kind of program, and could willingly cut back their hours when needed. But in reality, my situation was substantially better than my piers. I left school at 1:00 pm to