The Downside of Student Employment

The Downside of Student Employment

In the last thirty years there has been a significant change in the adolescent experience in the United States. The teenagers of today have jobs. While the teenagers of yesteryear had occasional jobs like baby-sitting and yard work or summer jobs at the pool or on the farm, today’s teenagers have employment during the school year that requires a substantial investment of time. In the past, teenagers were either workers or students; working students usually dropped out of school. Part-time work for students was scarce. Now part-time work is common, and certain segments of the economy rely on the ready availability of low-paid teen-age labor.

In many ways, the high school experience, with its social life, clubs,

sports, and volunteer service opportunities, may appear much the same as

in the past. But the time and commitment required by employment have

brought about significant changes in student attitudes and experiences.

The effects of student employment are consequential and pervasive.

Two major studies examining high school students and their world of

school, work, family, and peers, have considered the issue of student

employment. In Beyond the Classroom, Laurence Steinberg and his associates

report on their comprehensive survey of 20,000 students over ten years,

focusing on student "engagement" with school. (Referred to in notes as

Steinberg.) Another 6-year study of 7000 students looked at student

ambitions and how well they align with reality. This study is reported in

The Ambitious Generation: America's Teenage...

... middle of paper ...

...sted in as a career. The education of

American students should not be at the mercy of mall stores and

McDonald's.

Works Cited

"The Downside of Teen Employment," Secondary School Educators. July 15,

1999. http://7-12educators.miningco.com/Library/Weekly/aa0092697.htm.

Schneider, Barbara and David Stevenson. The Ambitious Generation:

America's Teenagers, Motivated but Directionless. New Haven: Yale

University Press, 1999.

Steinberg, Laurence. Beyond the Classroom. New York: Simon & Schuster,

1996.

Steinberg, Laurence and Elizabeth Cauffman. "The Impact of Employment on

Adolescent Development" in Annals of Child Development, v. 11. London:

Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 1995: 131-166.