Work, Leisure and Media Flashcards
What has happened to devoted time to leisure activities over the last 50 years?
There has been an increase in leisure activity
What are the three main patterns in adolescent’s free time in contemporary society?
- Well-rounded adolescents with
substantial time commitments across many different activities - Adolescents who tend to focus on one type of activity
- Adolescents who do not do much
outside of school - Studies of extracurricular participation generally find that there are large numbers of students who participate in multiple activities, large numbers who participate only in sports, and large numbers who are nonparticipants.
Boys are mainly sports only, girls do multiple acitivies
What does the rise and fall of the student worker mean?
- Before 1925, most teenagers, except for the affluent, entered the workforce full-time by 15 years of age
- Adolescents were either students or workers, not both
What were the compulsory education laws and child labor laws?
- Required students to stay in school until age 16
- Restricted adolescents’ work opportunities
What percentage of high school students worked during the school year by 1940?
~ 3%
What happened by the 1970s to the American high school students with part time jobs?
- The proportion of American high school students with part-time jobs rose due to the growth of retail and service sectors of the economy
- Teenagers were called upon to fill these positions
- They worked for relatively low wages and short work shifts
What are the recent trends in adolescent work?
It is decreasing
Why is adolescent work decreasing?
- About 30 years ago, educational reformers began calling for tougher standards in high schools
- Students began taking harder classes with more homework to prepare for college
- The recession in the early 2000s resulted in unemployed adults being hired over teenagers
- Immigration brought many willing and able adults to the United States
- Growth of new technologies expanded potential leisure activities for teens
True or False: Student employment in other industrialized countries varies widely
TRUE
What are the 3 broad questions about the effects of adolescent work?
- Whether working helps adolescents develop a sense of responsibility
- Whether working interferes with other activities, such as school
- Whether working promotes the development of undesirable behaviors, such
as drug and alcohol use
Does having a job help with the responsibility?
- Little research supports the popular view that holding a job makes adolescents more responsible
- Some data indicate high rates of misconduct on the job
True or False: People’s recollection is more negative regarding learned skills on jobs than research supports?
FALSE.
People’s recollections are more positive regarding learned skills than research supports: most jobs are menial
What is one positive effect that having a job has on responsibility?
Money management
What is the effect that having a job has on psychological development?
The impact depends on the job
Is there an issue with adolescents having a job and schooling?
Yes.
The issue is how many hours an adolescent works, not whether an
adolescent has a job
Why is having a job where you work many hours an issue for an adolescent’s schooling?
- Students working long hours are more likely to be absent from school, less likely to participate in extracurriculars, report enjoying school less, spend less time on homework, and earn slightly lower grades
- Intensive part-time employment may even increase the likelihood of dropping out of school
How many hours per week can an adolescent work without it having adverse effects on their schooling?
20 hours a week
Does working deter teens from delinquent activity?
NO. Working does not deter teens from delinquent activity
What is working long hours associated with?
- Working long hours may actually be associated with increases in
aggression, school misconduct, precocious sexual activity, and minor delinquency - However, correlation is NOT causation - There are a variety of possible explanations, including greater exposure to drug and alcohol use
Are there possible benefits of working as a poor youth?
- Some research has found special benefits of employment for inner-city adolescents from single-parent families, from poor families, with poor school records, or with histories of delinquency
- Some other research has found similar detrimental effects for both inner-city youth and middle-class teenagers – it depends on both the job and what you’re measuring
Is the age when adolescents start working important?
Yes, the age they begin matters
Does working as a teenager contribute to psychosocial development?
There is ultimately little evidence, except potentially for inner-city youth, that working as a teenager contributes significantly to psychosocial development…
What doe adolescents in the US spend nearly half of their waking hours doing?
They spend nearly half of their waking
hours in leisure activities
True or False: Teen report being in a worse mood during leisure activities than during school or work
FALSE.
Teens report being in a better mood during leisure activities than
during school or work
Why is it difficult to study adolescents’ moods?
- Individuals’ emotions change throughout the day
- Their mood at a particular point may not reflect their mood at other times
What is a method of collecting data about adolescents’s emotional states?
Experience Sampling Method (ESM)
What is the Experience Sampling Method?
A method of collecting data about adolescents’ emotional states, in which individuals are signaled and asked to report on their mood and activity
How are adolescents’ moods throughout the day according to the experience sampling method?
- Adolescent moods are most positive when with friends, least positive when alone
- On average, when in school they report moderate levels of concentration and very low levels of motivation or
interest