Youth or Money: You Can Only Choose One

When I look back at this past summer and see how much money I earned, I think to myself, why did I ever quit my job? Teaching little kids how to swim took up the majority of my summer days and even though I loved it, looking back on it now exposes completely different feelings. The stress and responsibility that I felt is crazy. Although it is not to the same extreme as child labor laws, how much of what Florence Kelley was saying in her speech we looked at this week true? Are we still putting too much weight on children’s shoulders when it comes to working?

It is true that most teens choose to work. In my case, no one told me I had to have a summer job. I did it because everyone else was and I wanted to make some money. Whether it was just my type A personality or the job actually being stressful, I always felt the need to do better. Come in earlier, pick up more shifts...whatever helped me gain recognition. I noticed that everyone was in the same position as me. They all strived to go above and beyond, but it seemed every time, the bar was raised higher. This is not meant to expose the company I worked at in any ways, but I wonder, why was it that everyone felt the need to do better when they were already doing what was asked of them?

Adults always tell teens to enjoy their youth and not grow up too fast. How are we supposed to do that if we are pressured with getting jobs? If we don’t work, we’re lazy. If we do work, we’re growing up too fast. Is there a happy medium? Or do adults just automatically expect too much from us?

Wherever the blame lies, I’ve found that the best thing to do is just do what makes you content. It sounds cliché, but it might be the only answer to this question. We’re blessed enough to be given the choice of whether to work, so either take advantage of it or don’t. As long as you’re using your blessings to do good and spread what you want to say, the matter of how much or how long you’re working shouldn’t matter.