Almost all of us have had that first job experience as teenagers. It can be really rewarding to finally make your own money and have a little bit of independence, even at such a young age.
But how much work is too much? Is there such a thing as overdoing it as a teenager?
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It all started with a father praising his son.
Chris Crawford, a father, recently praised his 14-year-old son’s work at his part-time Burger King job on Facebook.
In his post, he discussed his son’s work ethic, pointing out that he spends almost every day that he can working, goes in early and stays late, all while taking a jab at “grown” people who don’t work as hard.
But is this all really okay?
The post definitely raised a lot of questions, especially after it was reposted to Twitter. This sparked a lot of debate surrounding the ideas of exploitation, labor and overworked kids.
Some people responded negatively to the post.
There are a great deal of people who see this kid’s story as one of exploitative child labor. Working long hours, devoting almost all of your time to working instead of hanging out with your friends, and constantly being on the “grind” isn’t healthy.
At least, not at such a young age.
It could have lasting effects.
Many people worry that a work ethic like this could lead to psychological issues later down the road, especially when it comes time to work and support oneself. It could very well be a slippery slope.
But not everyone agrees.
There were others weighing in with their own opinions. Kids eventually grow into adults, and adults have to face hard work and long hours all the time.
Many people believe there’s nothing wrong with learning to work hard at such a young age, because it will prepare them for their future.
It also became a debate on spoiling children.
Others take this idea one step further and say that kids who didn’t have to work tend to grow up spoiled, and this kind of hard work will help kids learn the “realities” of the world.
There’s also the issue of exploitative employers.
This all sort of circles back to debates on labor in general, especially regarding minimum wage jobs that many see as inherently exploitative.
The kinds of work these places may have you doing doesn’t always positively reflect the hourly wage you make.
So what’s okay and what isn’t?
Whether or not teenagers should have part time jobs isn’t up for debate. The issue is how hard they should be working. They’re still kids, and they need time to, well, be kids. But does that mean they can’t devote hours and days to working hard?
