Working at McDonalds by Amitai Etzioni

Question

Critical Response Essay

Amitai Etzioni in his publication Working at McDonald’s offers an insight into why teenagers do not benefit from part-time employment. According to him, part-time jobs interfere with teenagers’ school attendance. He claims that the form of work found at McDonald’s and similar companies does not develop essential skills that teenagers could use in the future.

Etzioni views working at McDonald’s as immensely non-educational in numerous ways. According to him, even though such jobs offer opportunities for entrepreneurship, self-scheduling, self-discipline, and self-supervision, they are strictly controlled and highly routine. He claims that such jobs fail to promote personal development and skill acquisition. In further analysis of the McDonald’s type of jobs, he points out that fast food employment of teens distracts them from education. He alleges that in a third of cases, teenagers work at least thirty hours a week. This leaves them little time for schoolwork. At the same time, teens find the money they can earn to be more enticing than the credits they can score in class. He concludes that parents carry the responsibility of ensuring their teen children’s balance between work and education successfully.

Critical Response Essay Body Paragraphs

Etzioni’s publication Working at McDonald’s is an engrossing read lacking, however, any viable references that would support his teen part-time job condemnation. The author comprehensively outlines the consequences of part-time employment on teenagers and their education. The article showcases Etzioni’s commendable art of creativity. Nevertheless, his thoughts lack reliable evidence to support them. In most parts of the article, he uses personal observational affirmations to deliver concluding remarks. I believe that by performing these jobs, kids learn how to be focused and responsible, as they get an opportunity to interact with other working personnel and adapt to society. They are exposed to numerous ideas and attain fundamental concepts of entrepreneurship. I strongly believe that minimum wage jobs are important for teenagers.

Etzioni’s publication argues that minimum wage jobs, which most teenagers acquire, impact their lives negatively. Etzioni theorizes that the jobs take up too much time and never leave space for creativity. He thinks that jobs do not promote education, and they fail to teach any skills. “How can entering data on a computer teach the kids to become better persons in the future?” Personally, I disagree with Etzioni’s beliefs about jobs. From my understanding of the article, it is as if the author does not want any kid to work in Burger King or McDonald’s. Actually, I can hardly agree with the author’s idea. Part-time jobs allow some learners to pay for a part of their tuition or get their pocket money while in school.

In some parts of his argument, Etzioni provides statistical information that lacks proper citations. For instance, he points out that, according to the studies, approximately one-third of all United States teenagers have part-time jobs. This is statistical data that needs a credible reference. However, Etzioni does not use any in-text citation as a reference to this statement. This phenomenon is evidenced in other parts of the article. Etzioni points out the need to have work-study programs at schools. He states that only ten percent of currently existing schools show good results from being involved in such programs. This statement is also a piece of statistical data that lacks any citation or reference.

Critical Response Essay Conclusion

In conclusion, I believe Etzioni’s opinion about part-time jobs for teens is wrong. His work is full of condemning statements about part-time jobs that are unreferenced. I have not read any similar publications so far, and I am still convinced that part-time jobs are essential for young learners. They help teenagers to become responsible and more focused in life.

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