Most kids between 14 and 18 have gotten jobs at Lucy Beckham, which can positively and negatively affect them. This can affect their schedules, life at school, and overall quality of life. The sudden change in responsibilities and free time can affect a child’s mental health very poorly and is something that most people do not recognize. While some students thrive under pressure, others can experience stress, anxiety, depression, and an overall lower quality of life. This is from sudden changes like how late you work; because of this, kids can experience difficulty focusing in school. Cole Howard, a freshman at Lucy Beckham states, “I haven’t been able to work very much because of soccer. The only day I have free to work is on Sunday which leaves me drained the next morning.” Having a job at any age is a huge responsibility, especially at a young age. This is because kids need to be able to manage a schedule that includes everything like school and work. This can teach kids responsibility because they must follow a schedule to keep their jobs. A job can be easily lost due to poor management skills and poor dedication.
The responsibilities thrown onto a child can vary depending on where they get hired. Most kids work in food and beverage positions as front-of-the-house employees. These positions include Foodrunning, Bussing, Hosting, Barback, Dockhand, etc. These positions demand different needs. For example, being a dockhand would require someone to know how to tie knots, and being a food runner requires them to know most of the dishes. These employees have a lot on their plates, especially when these employees are still in school. This isn’t appreciated very much by the general public and it isn’t recognized very much. Customers at restaurants can show their thanks to these employees by leaving tips, being kind, and being appreciative of these employees. This is important because they get paid based on the thought that they get tips. Tip credit is a way around minimum wage that lets employers pay below minimum wage as long as the employees make it up in their tips. If they do not meet their tips then the employer has to pay minimum wage. This way around minimum wage can affect many kids or adults working as they get paid drastically less without a good tip-out. That’s why tipping a reasonable amount at the end of your service is a thoughtful and helpful action. Without a reasonable tip, employees have to rely on hourly pay which can range anywhere from $2.50 to $15 an hour due to a thing called tip credit. Tip credit allows employers to pay their employees under the legal minimum wage as long as they make it up in tips which can drastically impact an employee’s pay for that day.
