3 Reasons Why I Think Young Adults Should Work Through High School

     As a former student and a current parent, I have put much thought into whether or not young adults should be working part-time jobs while also attending school. My opinion on this issue is an almost unanimous "yes". I believe that every young adult should work some kind of part time job, even if that just means working through holiday breaks or over the summer.

     I think that working part time teaches young adults several skills and creates several teachable moments so that they are better prepared for engaging in the full time workforce following their post secondary education or completion of their high school career. I have some experience working with both types of students, those who are college bound and those who want to work, and have come to the conclusion that they all need to be taught the same things. Here's a short list:

1. Young adults need to know how paychecks, pay stubs, and taxes work.
   
     A teacher or parent can talk about taxes until they are blue in the face, but until that young adult sees their taxes coming out of their check every two weeks, it just isn't an impactful conversation. I teach a short unit on taxes to my career students, but they don't engage in the conversation unless the federal government has taken their cut out of their first check. For many, it is a shock to see so much of their paycheck go away before it even deposits into their bank account.

2. Young adults should have some purchasing power.
 
     Young adults should feel like they are actively contributing to our economic system. If they work for money and then go spend that money elsewhere, they will begin to feel valued as a member of the larger society. All of the sudden, all of our talk about unemployment, the deficit, and other economic markers becomes more relevant and interesting. The more we can educate young adults on these issues, the better off we will be as a whole.

3. Working a part time job builds empathy for many.

     Many young adults who work part time work in some kind of service industry; namely fast food or retail. They will pretty quickly come to appreciate the people who work in these jobs and those who work around them. You are less likely to be snarky with the young person working behind the cash register at McDonald's if you were once that that young kid working behind the counter. Most people who work service jobs tend to be better tippers and are more patient because they know just how uncomfortable and demanding a service job can be.
   
     If there is anything that our society needs more of, it is empathy for those around us. Working in some of the most underappreciated jobs in our economy will build that empathy pretty quickly.

     These three things combined build a better all around human being in a way that no school curriculum can teach on its own. It's important for young people to have these experiences; it helps build interpersonal skills, it allows them to have money to learn about fiscal responsibility, and it creates a sense of ownership in their own actions and decisions. These are all things that we wanted as young people and all things that we want our students or children to learn before we send them out to the wider world.

     If you work in education, with young adults, or are a parent, I invite you to consider encouraging that young person in your life to obtain some kind of part-time employment; they'll thank you for it later.