this post was submitted on 03 Feb 2026
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Work Reform

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[โ€“] fluffykittycat@slrpnk.net 3 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

not as much anymore. it's hard enough for a grown adult to have a 20 year old car and an entry level service industry job, which I hear from boomers is what they could afford with a part time job in high school.

some teens still work but usually only if their families really need the money. middle class teens are told to laser focus on college resume padding, so grades and extracurricular are what they end up doing. parents worry that a job will distract from algebra homework, and football or marching band looks better to prestigious colleges than McDonalds (non adult directed activities aren't counted at all)

I didn't get my first job until after I dropped out of college

[โ€“] MonkeMischief@lemmy.today 2 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (1 children)

(non adult directed activities aren't counted at all)

I guess this closes certain avenues of BSing the system but also, wow that feels crazy arbitrary and unfair. Damn, it makes a lot of sense that this would be some kinda unspoken rule of what counts.

Not to be too conspiracy-brain but it really fits that notion that modern schooling exists solely to subsidize corporate recruitment.

"We made our own film/robots/fundraiser/business!" ๐Ÿ‘Ž๐Ÿ‘Ž

"I did several months' worth of free labor for a wealthy multinational conglomerate!" ๐Ÿ˜Ž ๐Ÿ‘ˆ๐Ÿ‘ˆ

[โ€“] fluffykittycat@slrpnk.net 2 points 2 hours ago

It's not a conspiracy that's openly what it's for

[โ€“] IAmYouButYouDontKnowYet@reddthat.com 2 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (1 children)

It's wild to me that kids these days expect their parents to pay for their college. I worked for like 8 years saving money before I could go to school.

Now I'm not even using my degree and barely making enough money to exist.

[โ€“] fluffykittycat@slrpnk.net 1 points 2 hours ago

College is way too expensive to pay for yourself