Since I was little, I’ve heard stories told fondly by adults about their teenage years. Many of these tales involve having a summer job, in which they would either work for their parents or with friends. Although having a job, whether seasonal or not, sounds exciting, I think being employed while in high school is entirely unnecessary in most circumstances. High school is supposed to be a time filled with figuring out who you are and having fun. Even though there is an obvious monetary advantage to having a job, I cannot think of any other benefit.

  Now I’m sure most of you are thinking that there are a million good reasons to get a job such as providing a “real-world experience.” I argue that learning to be a cashier, or something similar, is not real-world experience as you are doing something that you will not need after college which is the “real world.” Sure you learn how to interact with others, but you also can learn this by shopping at Walmart or any restaurant. Even giving a presentation in school seems more beneficial than performing a specific and (someday soon) unneeded task. I’m aware this is a very privileged standpoint to have. However, I would like to mention that it is also one that is gaining popularity. Recently, I have noticed fewer and fewer teenagers have been getting jobs. I suspect this is because of changing family values.

  I come from a family with traditional values where most of my elders had jobs but do not expect their offspring to follow in these footsteps. So all of this got me thinking, do kids just not want jobs or are they not being forced anymore? I asked a few students at Dover High for their opinions using the following questions. First, everyone was asked the same two questions: do you believe teenagers should have jobs, and why or why not? After this, they were asked a set of two questions based on whether they had a job or not. If yes, they were asked what their personal experience is, and if they wished to not have a job. If no, they were asked how they feel about their friends having jobs and not relating to them and if they wished they had a job.

  My first response was from a fellow Crimsonian member, Molly Nuezil, who has a job at Baker Florist. Molly thinks that “teens should have jobs” because she “feels like it prepares them for what’s after high school by having to balance school life and work life in college. Also, it teaches them a sense of responsibility like showing up at a certain place at a certain time.“ Molly has had a job for a while now and enjoys it! When asked about what it is like having a job she said, “I love my job even though where I work specifically it’s hard around the holidays and when there are funerals.” I asked her if these things ever get her down. She said no and that she “wouldn’t want to not have a job since it’s something to do after school and honestly, it’s the highlight of [her] week.” I get where Molly is coming from in terms of wanting to stay busy, but this is where I propose extracurriculars. High school is the only time many people will ever have the opportunity to play organized sports or participate in highly specified clubs with peers of their age range.

  This is where my best friend and Varsity Dover Softball player Kara Lint comes in. When I asked Kara what she thought about teens having jobs, she had this to say, “I think that teenagers should have jobs if they aren’t involved in many other things because they can make money and have a sense of freedom.” So this leads to her next response that backs up my previous point. Kara said, “Teens that play sports and stuff shouldn’t have to have jobs because they would be too busy.” Sure this could be taken as learning time management, but I think Kara and I agree that how much is on your plate is not about responsibility but rather acknowledging there’s only so much time in a day for everyone.

  When I asked Kara how she feels about not having a job even though she is already pretty busy, she explained, “Sometimes it makes me feel left out when my friends talk about the money they make from their jobs or how they have fun.” She followed this up by saying that sometimes she does wish she had a job so that she “would have money of [her] own to spend.” I get the wanting to have money aspect; however, when you have a job you have far less time to spend this money, and a decent amount just goes towards the gas required to get to your job. The amount of money leftover from a minimum wage job ends up minimal.

  After this, I decided to ask one more person to round out my rebuttal to all the job-lovers out there. I asked former Crimsonian member Addison Smitley who works at Gionino’s pizzeria. Addi said, “Yes, teens should have jobs” because “it teaches them responsibility and how to be independent. Such as how to budget and save money, and prepare for the real world.” Additionally, Addi also said that she enjoys her job since it “has multiple people that [she] enjoy[s] being around, and it has good pay for what [she’s] doing” and “her managers are nice so [she] doesn’t get scared going to work and genuinely enjoys being there.” I’ve already stated alternatives to both of Addi’s points, but while interviewing her a new idea popped into my head: Do teenagers really care about being prepared for the real world? None of the people that I interviewed who had jobs said they wanted it because it prepared them for the real world. They focused on the time and money aspects and simply stated the preparation part as a regurgitated fact as to why teenagers should have jobs and not why they do. This had me thinking that maybe people only think this because of their parents. This older generation was told this by their parents and this statement was true. Nowadays, I think the sentiment that having a minimum wage job prepares you for the real world is false. Sure, you get used to following tasks and such but we can learn that in school. In simpler times, however, people did need to have these starter jobs because college was not as common.

  Before I sum up this article, I’d like to say again that I’m aware not everyone goes to college and that not having a job is a privilege. That is why I begin the article by saying that I’m referring to the most common modern situations in my town, which has a very limited demographic. However, I still believe my statements apply to more than just Dover, Ohio.

  All-in-all, maybe I’m truly just a product of my time, but I believe we need to look closer at whether having a job as a teenager plays a role in how people perform post-college. Having a job in high school would have been beneficial decades ago when many people went straight into work from high school or even joined the army. With the rapid change society has been going through, I think there could be better ways to spend our teenage years than cooped up at a job for multiple hours a day.