Flipping Burgers: Is Fast Food a Good First Job?

Working in the fast food industry is a place that gives most teenagers the opportunity to have their first job. Teenagers make up about 30% of all the workers in fast food chains in America. These fast food industries tend to create stressful fast paced environments. This may not be a great first job for all kids, because it is not a beneficial environment for students because it undermines school involvement, puts teenagers in a stressful environment, and creates an environment that prioritizes money over education.

Fast food chain jobs undermine school attendance and involvement because in majority of cases, jobs schedules may interfere with schoolwork “In an informal survey published in the most recent Walt Whitman yearbook, 58 percent of the seniors acknowledged that their jobs interfere with their school work.”(4 Etzioni).

Some of the main reasons teenagers decide to obtain a job is to be able to afford their own needs. Aside from that, it gives them a little taste of independence. But this could be an inconvenience for their education by affecting their academics in the long run. Having a job is very time consuming and stressful therefore, it is not beneficial for a teenager enrolled in school. Many of these food industries only exploit the teenagers to their advantage while only paying them minimum wage. It is hard for young teens to balance their school responsibilities with their job schedule causing them to fall behind in their classes, also putting them in danger of failing. At the very least, it is not a help to getting good grades in school.

Working in fast food puts students in a risky situation with their schooling, but it also takes the opportunity from teengaer to be involved in school activities. For example, school clubs or athletic programs are sacrificed for working. Students work many hours and miss out on much of the full high school experience

There are positive aspects of working for fast food places though. Everyone has some certain abilities that enable them to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of life. Fortunately the fast food industry teaches teenagers various skills that could be relevant to their life. For example workers never know what to expect but are still expected to know how to react to certain situations.

Fast food places are known for having multiple encounters with rude customers, or any customers. A job setting like that makes their worker interact with a diverse group of people which helps them learn multiple ways to communicate and treat people. It also helps young employees come up with solutions to uncomfortable and complicated situations allowing them to be prepared for real life situations.

The disadvantage of these encounters is that some people may not know how to react or act. Making them stressed and sometimes making decisions that do not help with the problem.

An article written by the website Trends desk tells the story of a fight between an employee and a customer. “A shocking incident of a McDonald’s employee trashing a customer had come to light after the video of the same went viral. According to a Daily Mail report, the fight took place as the customer allegedly tried to fill up a water cup with free soda.” This only shows how unhealthy it can be for teenagers to expose themselves to this type of encounter by working a fast food job.

Working these jobs can be a distraction from school because they prioritize the money more than education. Fast food restaurants are a way to make money. Students may see the money coming in and want to make even more, leading to longer hours at work and less time put into their studies. “In a far-reaching analysis of data collected by the Institute for Social Research between 1991 and 2010, findings indicated that students who worked more than 15 hours a week began to see adverse academic effects” (2 Ramirez).

Overworking can cause laziness and drowsiness during and after school. We have all seen the student who falls asleep during period 1 because he worked late the night before. Not only does working a lot affect the schoolwork not being finished but the interest can begin to fade as their priorities are not focused and set on their education.

Teenagers should not be working in fast food restaurants unless they can overcome the loss of time dedicated to their studies. They should think about a different job unless they can deal with a stressful environment and possibly rude customers. Right now our job should be school, getting through it with the best grades we can achieve. Let’s take the time to get our education and work later.

Sources:

Josh Patoka. “Why Teens Shouldn’t Work Fast Food or Retail.” Money Buffalo, April 27, 2022, moneybuffalo.com/should-teens-work-fast-food

McElroy, Molly. “Working More than 20 Hours a Week in High School Can Harm Grades, UW Researcher Finds.” UW News, 9 Feb. 2011, www.washington.edu/news/2011/02/09/working-more-than-20-hours-a-week-in-high-school-can-harm-grades-uw-researcher-finds

“‘Working at McDonald’s’ Article by Amitai Etzioni | Free Essay Example.” StudyCorgi.Com, 15 May 2021, studycorgi.com/working-at-mcdonalds-article-by-amitai-etzioni