Why Should Teenagers Work Essay

Should Teens Work While in School?
Should teens work while studying and going to school? Some say that it is not a good idea for teens, but others think that it is useful for teens to work part time. In my opinion, I believe that teens should not work while studying and going to school. In the article “Teenagers and Work”, by Laurence Steinberg and Ellen Greenberger they talk about whether or not teenagers should work and how much. These two authors gave us several clear reasons why teenagers should not work, but they concentrated mostly on the negative aspects of teenagers who work. I do in a way agree with both of the authors. Many of the points they presented are extremely valid. Such as teens working “long hours” end up in “mostly dead-end …show more content…
When my mom was a teenager, she was working full time as well as going to school at the local community college, where she lived. She was working long hours as well as trying to balance her schoolwork. After my parents got engaged, my mom started working more hours to save up some money for their wedding. After about a month, she was having a hard time juggling work and school that she ended up dropping out of school, so she could focus on working and saving up the money. After they got married she told her self that she would try to go back to school but that didn’t happened because she ended up having me. So, she had to continue working to provide for her family instead of going to school. The authors’ states that “Although the workplace has changed and that paid work is a character-building enterprise for young people even more than schooling.” The authors are both right when they say that paid work is a character building enterprise more than schooling. For example, mom ended up dropping out of school because she was more focused on her job and saving …show more content…
Steinberg and Greenberger say “… we continue to encourage adolescence to place the short-term goal of earning and spending money above the goal of investing in educational activities.” I had a friend named Kaitlin that was working at a restaurant named ihop. She ended up having to miss her senior homecoming football game and dance all because she had to work. She wasn’t really that happy that she had to miss it because it was her senior year, and she didn’t want to miss her last chance of hanging out with her Senior class before they all graduated and went different ways. I agree with both of the authors in today’s society that we do encourage teens to spend money rather than focus on being a teen and going to all the school events and