Importance of Education Over Teen Employment

Andrew Po-Chih Hu

Professor Slobod

English 113B

9 February 2012

Importance of Education Over Teen Employment

        Although life as we defined is all about learning, but we can divide it into three major stages, which are being educated, being employed, and retired to enjoy life. Even the three states are related, but the stage of getting an education and the stage of being employed has a greater connection. People’s career can be influence by their education and their experience during learning. The transition from just learning to working with your knowledge is an important milestone that could happen in an early age, when teens receive their education while being part-time employed. This seems to be really common and good as a step forward to being self-independent and financially independent. Ideally, teen job should be an activity, practice, and learning process that teens can gain from, look forward to, and benefit their future. Nowadays, under the circumstance of highly developed technology, instant media transportation, and world economic crisis, teen jobs are more detrimental than beneficial to teenagers.

        There are many reasons that cause teenagers to get a part-time job while they are studying, and some of the most commonly seen reasons are “parents… showing their kids the value of a hard earned dollar,” wishing them to have some working experience before heading out to the real world, wanting them to be more independent financially and taking more responsibility for their own actions (Hall 102). Whether the willingness of teenagers getting a part-time job is high or low, it should not influence their performance in school and grades. Sometimes teens might be caught up in the idea of working can get them money is better than studying, so they dedicate more time and effort into working then they done plain or even fail their school works because their lack of study. But as students, it is their responsibility to devote most of their time and energy to studying and actually learning knowledge that will be useful in their later lives. Although in short term the studying might not seems like a high return on investment, but in long term it will definitely pay off as they achieve a career instead of a job.

        It seems like a part-time job can help teenagers to gain experience and get prepare for the real world, but most part-time teen jobs are either working in a fast food restaurant, coffee shop, or the register of a store. These jobs “are usually a low-paying and tedious waste of time” that teens can use these time wisely and be able to learn some knowledge through studying (Hall 102). These jobs not only waste their time, they are also “highly uneducational in several ways, [which] most teen jobs these days are highly structured-what social scientists call ‘highly routinized’”(Etzioni 316). Because everything is prescribed, so “there is no room for initiative, creativity, or even elementary rearrangements. These are breeding grounds for robots working for yesterday’s assembly lines, not tomorrow’s high-tech posts”(Etzioni 316). Instead of helping youngsters to develop their individual unique mind and be able to be part of the century that is all about creativity, these jobs eliminate potential. Not only they do not move forward as the world is, they fall behind and might never be able to catch up because they missed what is truly important, which is getting their education.

        In Amitai Etzioni’s “Working At McDonald’s” he makes a strong case when he tells us that pursuing a higher and better quality education helps teenagers to be specialized and become professionals in different categories, and later on they can be engaged in a career; compared to teen jobs that “provide income, work and even some training… [but] they provide no career ladders, few marketable skills, and undermine school attendance and involvement”(Etzioni 317). And because these jobs interfere with their school work, it decrease the opportunities they can pursue a career with the knowledge they could have gain in school, they are stuck in the chain of low-paying jobs due to their lack of knowledge and low-skill performance, even if they want to dedicate themselves into a career in the future, it will be much more harder. As the speed of technology develops, it is important to know more about it to be capable integrate with this high-tech world. However, since teens use their time to work, they decrease the chance to learn and work with computers, high technology devices and programs. Not being able to keep up with technology can become a great flaw for them to adapt careers that has to do with tech. In fact that most workplace is now in favor of people whose with more knowledge and skills of high technology.

        In a world full of instant media transportation, communicate through Internet with computers, tablets, and cellphones is becoming a huge part of social life. And what gets friends to be connected is through communications, but due to their jobs, they soon find “it difficult to keep up extracurricular activities and friendships, which they might find out later on that they have few or no friend they could open up with (More 4 Kids). A good social relationship with people not only will it be health to a person’s life, it might also be helpful in many different ways, like helping out a dear friend in emergency. No one wants to look back to their life in school and can only remember doing schoolwork, working part-time, and being all alone. And regret about how he or she does not have some wonderful memories about school life with friends.

Also there are teens who work to get some extra allowance, and those who have to work to financially support themselves because their family could not entirely support them. Even some of these reasons are origin from virtuous thought like lowering the financial pressure for the family, but because of their jobs, teens are keep away from home, they reduce or sacrifice the time they can spend with their family and love ones. They also “sleep and exercise less,” and soon they might have to face some problems with health. This starts with a good intention but turn into a situation that both parents and child are not happy about, which children starts to have lack of communications with their parents, parents are worry about their children’s health, and as time goes on their family connection and love might just fade away (More 4 Kids).

Nevertheless, the entire world is in an enormous economic crisis, companies are cutting down their employment and “job source for those lacking a higher education or even a high school degree, is not the force in the economy it once was” (Time Magazine). Those jobs that would be consider as teen jobs, which people with less professional knowledge and skills can apply to are reducing the amount of employment, and they could not dedicate themselves to a professional career because their lack of competitiveness. Then they will have to face the consequence of being unemployed. If teens or parents are concern about that teens might be lack of real world experience, teens can actually do volunteer works, work field programs that cooperate with schools, or study aboard to broaden their horizon. There are always a lot more other options to choose from than to sacrifice a person’s education for a not so beneficial part-time teen job.

Now we think of it, we know the importance of getting an good education, so students should fully dedicate their time and energy to their education, and take advantage of being a student learning professional knowledge and skills helps with their future. After all, you cannot have another teenage years to spend to get a good quality education and make wonderful friends. They should not occupy their time for study with part-time jobs and lose the chance of being successful in their later life. There are more detrimental than beneficial for teenagers to get a job, so go back to school.

Works Cited

Etzioni, Amitai. "Working At McDonald's." Writing With A Thesis. 11th ed. Boston: Lyn Uhl, 2011. 315-19. Print.

Gandel, Stephen. "Teen Unemployment: Young Workers Struggling in Recession - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. Time Magazine U.S., 18 Jan. 2010. Web. 07 Feb. 2012. <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1952331,00.html>.

Hall, Ashley. "Student Essay: Broke And Bored: The Summer Job." Writing With A Thesis. 11th ed. Boston: Lyn Uhl, 2011. 102-03. Print.

Schifferdecker, Stacey. "The Pros and Cons of Teen Jobs." Parenting at More4kids: Raising Children in a Complex World. More 4 Kids, 2008. Web. 07 Feb. 2012. <http://www.more4kids.info/626/pros-and-cons-of-teen-jobs/>.