Teens, time, and trying to earn a buck
I remember lots of things about being a teenager: braces, acne, boys (!), rebellious arguments with parents, and having entirely too much time on my hands. (Did I mention boys?) Of them all, though, it was “time” that impacted me the most. It wasn’t so much the lack of homework (although I had very little); it was because as a young person, Polimom was not a “joiner”.
I started “hanging out” at a local fast food place (I can’t remember why, other than it was near enough to walk), and began pestering the manager to let me help out behind the counter. Eventually he did, but he was very nervous about it… and he didn’t pay me.
I was 14.
I actually got paid for my next job for a while, but had to quit when the manager decided to check id’s to collect paychecks — and lost half his workers. We’d all lied about our ages.
Obviously, we fell into the emphasized category below:
This holiday season, teens nationwide won’t be fighting each other for mall jobs. Since the 1970s, the focus on education by parents and students has meant a declining number of teens following help-wanted signs. Last year, 43.7% of teens were employed or looking for work, the lowest since the U.S. government began collecting the data in 1948.
In her opinion piece, Eve Tahmincioglu is concerned; the valuable lessons of earning one’s own money, she feels, are falling by the wayside. She may be right (not all studies agree with her figures), but she has overlooked a couple of important factors: the increasing hours spent on homework, and personality type.
All the young teens we know spend at least one to two hours a night on homework… and it gets worse (we’re told) in high school. It’s not at all clear to me why schools can no longer cover what they must during class hours, but I’ve heard it from everyone. Given the coming legislatively mandated increase in math and science credits, the demand on young people’s time is unlikely to decrease, is it?
Add overachievement or extra-curricular engagement to the equation, and there’s not enough time left for a job, which brings me to Adorable Child (AC) — my overachieving, highly gifted, socially engaged young athlete, who’s already talking about wanting to earn her own money.
What would she give up to gain what Tahmincioglu correctly sees as a valuable life lesson?
Jeylan Mortimer, professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota, tracked 1,000 high school students and found that by their 20s, those who had held jobs in their teens developed better interpersonal skills and confidence than those who had bypassed teen toil. Also, many of the nation’s top CEOs worked in their teens.
Even accounting for the hyperachieving personality types those CEOs no doubt have, I’m willing to wager they had the same kind of time Polimom had — a luxury that many kids today do not possess.
I’m not sure that young people have changed, but the times sure have. Has it been worth the trade-off?
18 Responses to “Teens, time, and trying to earn a buck”
This post is very interesting to me, because I have a 14 year-old who is caught up in this conflict. She is ambitious, and college-bound, but also likes to earn her own money. She is taking honors classes, running track, is an advanced figure skater,is in Key Club, and occasionally babysits for extra money. There is always a trade-off for all this activity. Her classes are demanding, the track coach demands they practice 5 times a week for 2 hours a day, and her skating coach insists she practice 3-4 times a week. The family she babysits for have 3 young kids who have no bedtime on the weekends. I don’t know if a hectic lifestyle is the way to live—but she won’t give anything up.
College entrance requirements are very competitive- so even a 14-y-o is under a lot of pressure. It seems out of whack to me. I don’t understand why athletic coaches are so demanding. Kids these days don’t have time to work at the mall or hang out too often with their friends. And its sad.
Kim,
I do not think you meant that college admission is competative since there are many open admission universities but I think you meant that getting into a “name” school is very competative.
Since being a teenager is about building a “resume” that will look good in some sort of subjective admission process, there is just no room for working at McDonalds.
I believe that this is an example of what Jay Mathews at the Washington Post is accused of doing: Making what the top 10% of parents go through sound like something that all teen-agers are going through.
Well- I don’t think we think of it as a name school- I don’t think she’s going to an Ivy League college- but she wants to get as far as she can- so will be applying to a good school. In Maryland- even the University of Maryland- is very hard to get into. I’m not sure what the statistics are- but most of the teenagers we know are doing the same thing.
The pressure isn’t just on teens, or High schoolers. My oldest niece, 7.5 yr old and in 2nd grade, is already having pressure to perform in school. While she doesn’t have a whole lot in the way of homework, they do push for lots of practice.
Her mom has limited her to 2 ‘sports’ activities, so it’s swimming and karate, and then church choir. This doesn’t mean that she doesn’t spend time with her friends.
Her mom has also decided that she just doesn’t get whatever she wants when she wants it. This past year she wanted a gameboy. Mom wouldn’t go buy it, my niece had to earn the money herself to get it. She did to!! But, mostly, she had indulgent grandparents and an aunt. Her jobs to earn the money included ‘watching’ grandma while grandpa ran an errand (grandma is very physically handicapped), help grandpa haul scrap wood and drywall from the basement, and things like that.
the story leaves out the impact that illegal aliens has had on the teen job market
My first paycheck job was at McDonalds (young teens are probably better served in non-coporate jobs like babysitting, like I did, or a sort of apprenticeship), and I built up a resume that got full-scholarships thrown at me by working part-time during the slower months and only full-time in the summer. You can learn the same lessons without actually having to spend all your time on a job (if you’re poor, though, you likely have no choice; I agree the lessons are important for everyone, though).
That’s true, Uncle Joe; illegal aliens often do the jobs most adults foisted on their kids.
I’m not really sure I buy the “not enough time” argument, though there is something to the trend Kim Ritter notes. It seems to me the kids have plenty of to spend on other things that neither relate to their schoolwork or even their formal extra-curricular activities.
I’d be interested to know Polimom’s era etc.; her recollections are different from mine. Homework was standard when I was in middle school and high school in the 1970s; 1-1/2 – 2 hours nightly (more on weekends) was absolutely normal—and I spent less time than most of my peers because schoolwork came easy for me. Most people I knew had more responsibilities and obligations at home than what I generally observe today. Most worked for spending money and in many cases school supplies and any clothes beyond the basics; many were expected to do so, to greater or lesser degree). Kids did all of that and still did participated in extracurriculars; I was unusual only to the degree that I was hyper-involved.
The elephant in the room are some activities thtat are considered “necessities” now, when they really aren’t. My husband, who teaches middle schoolers in Sunday school, is endlessly amused when he hears them complaining about not having enough time … and then, in almost the very next breath, talking about their scores in video games, or their myspace friends, or how many IM’s they get and send in a day, or the latest episode of this, that or another TV show. Etc. Ahem. All of which is fine—but who’s fooling whom?
Also, since when are extra currics not also social activities and places where people interact with friends?
I’m with Eve; the experience of working for pay in situations where you aren’t setting the pace or rules and don’t get to decide how and if you’ll participate is invaluable. It’s as least as important as the majority of extra currics. And I say this as one who thinks they’re VERY important—and who was heavily and deeply involved in them from middle school all the way through college.
All of my remarks are strictly with regard to older kids, late pre-teens and teens. Now, as for younger kids—that’s an entirely different story. They ARE overscheduled, they generally DO get more homework than in at least my era, and they DO have a lot less hang-out time than they used to, even though they need that more than older kids do, in my opinion. (But I still think they should have to get out there and rake leaves, or whatever, to make extra money. It’s good for them.)
I guess I would like to see a little more flexibility from sports coaches, who even want the kids to practice during holiday breaks. It just seems a little too gung ho. Of course, no one forces the teenagers to do any of this, but those that want to be competitive for college entrance purposes are put into kind of a meat grinder.
BTW, my kid still has to help out around the house, and gets an allowance. She had a paper route up until this year to help pay for college. I’m a big believer that work experience is very valuable-even for young teens. Maybe a part-time summer job is the solution.
reader_iam,
I would say that while living in a metropolitan suburb and the competition is incredible. If your kid decides to attend a diretional state university you are considered a failure as a parent and people would consider community college a form of child abuse. It is not that teenagers are just not expected to be involved in extracirrcullars but expected to be very good (excel) at them.
Starting in 7th grade the band and orchestra directors start telling kids that if they are not going to take private lessons that they are wasting their time in Band. The kids on the high school swim team are also expected to be on club teams(and the same for most sports outside of football). If you take a foreign language then you are expected to go to a summer camp for that foreign language (and the same for band, sports, etc). High schools students wanting to attend a name university are also all expect to have one major extracurricular not associated with school and to have volunteer work that shows a long term commitment. The students also have to find a method of demonstrating leadership to college admission personnel.
For the top ten percent of high school students, life is probably much more Darwinian than it was in the past since most parents act like it is either the Ivy leagues or a life of poverty.
I agree, superdestroyer, and I appreciate the non-sports examples. That’s exactly how it looks, at least in my slice of exurbian America… though nobody I know is targeting the Ivy League. (well… AC thinks she’d like Harvard or Duke)
I don’t think the author of the opinion piece I targeted is correct about a lack of socialization for our young super-achievers, though… nor even about a lack of discipline or goal-setting / achievement. However, the stress on them is astounding — far more than I think those of us of prior generations fully grasp.
Reader_iam — I’m from your era. I suspect your school(s) were a bit more demanding than mine, but there’s the related impact of my non-involvement at school. No sports, no clubs, no school-sanctioned extra-curriculars… I think that was a major factor in the amount of time I had.
For those who, like me, have daughters — someone recently sent me a copy of “The Supergirl Dilemma”, a report put out by Girls Inc. (link) They charge $14.95 for a copy, but it relates directly to this discussion. I haven’t googled to see if it’s out there somewhere for free (it probably is…)
It’s tough on teens to have to balance school, clubs/sports, a social life and a job. It all comes down to moderation. I was in 4 clubs, taking honors classes, and I worked 20 hours a week in high school. But it worked out for me because the clubs were only a few hours a week which left me time to do homework and work at the movie theatre on weekends.
Kim – just as a side note, have you checked out Washington College for your daughter? It’s one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country and it’s on the Eastern Shore. I graduated from WC in 2004 and loved every minute of my time there. I had some great professors and a first-class education. And it’s a bit easier to get into than most of the private colleges in Maryland simply because it’s not quite as well known. I only had a 3.4 GPA in high school and participated in a couple clubs and some tutoring programs, and I got a $10k/year scholarship.
I just found this site a couple of days ago, but I really appreciate Polimom bringing this up. I was lucky enough to have a job that was both regular, but not corporate when I was in high school. During the school year, I was a swim instructor/coach and during the summer I continued coaching and was a lifeguard. Although I could have relied on my parents to pay for unpaid summer internships that probably would have looked better on my resume, I worked hard–especially in the summer–and earned my way into a very good university and have continued to grad school.
I think that the other outcome of this is a sort of nepotism. Those who can afford to pay for their children during the summer get those glitzy internships where they meet the right people and get the better jobs coming out of college, so they get more promotions and perpetuate the inequality that is bred through that system. I agree that something needs to change, and reducing the number of undocumented workers is not going to do it.
MIkey,
I looked up the Princeton Review info on Washington College. To empahsize what was said before, in my neighborhood, if my daughters ended up attending a university with a mean SAT of 1150, I would be viewed as a failure of a parent. The competition these days is to view Maryland or Virginia as the backup schools in case you do not get into Georgetown or Yale.
I think kids who have all the advantages- do get a better start as far as meeting the right people, taking expensive SAT prep courses, etc. But, there’s alot to be said for doing things the old-fashioned way-for one thing, you value things more if you have to work for them, for another those little crappy jobs instill a good work ethic in our kids.
Morgan- thanks for the hint- I’ll keep it in mind! I wish there was a more relaxed environment for the kids- even the high achievers. They should be enjoying their high school years.
Polimom- I found a site that had a snippet of the “Supergirl Dilemma” and it seems like exactly what we are experiencing, here. Thanks for mentioning it.
“But, there’s alot to be said for doing things the old-fashioned way-for one thing, you value things more if you have to work for them, for another those little crappy jobs instill a good work ethic in our kids.”
Also, by having had those crappy jobs, they’ll know more concretely what they don’t want to do for the rest of their lives.
My opinion on this one comes down to one thing. School first, everything else second. If you’re doing well enough in the first to leave time for seconds, great. In today’s economy I don’t see how anything else can work. In fact we need a radical overhaul of our education system which won’t leave time for tradition because frankly the summer vacation needs to be dumped. It’s really nothing but an historical anachronism.