Question

1. Read the interview and make a list of arguments for and against part-time jobs for pupils.

— Mr Chapman, I hear there is a tendency of teenagers taking jobs in Great Britain. Is this really so?
— I would say yes. We all know that teenagers need money. The pocket money they get from their parents isn’t enough to pay for mobile phone calls, the new CDs they want to have and going out with their friends in the evenings. A lot of teens prefer not to ask their parents for more money. Instead they get part-time jobs. That’s what about a million schoolchildren in the UK do.
— And what jobs do they usually get?
— The most popular jobs for teenagers are babysitting and getting newspapers to people’s houses in the mornings and evenings. Other jobs that young people do include working in shops, hotels and coffee shops. They also do dog walking and cleaning.
- Do young people who work get the same money as grown-up people do or they are paid less?
- They are not paid the same money. Many people think they are too young to get much money.
- But should young people be working at all?
— That’s a very good question. You see, most teenagers are really very busy. Schools give them a lot of homework and many pupils have to prepare for their future exams. Besides it is important for teenagers to have time for a social life and to do their hobbies. If teenagers have a job, they can be too tired to do their schoolwork properly.
— And yet they try to get a job, don’t they?
— Many of them do and, in my view, that’s a growing tendency.

2. Write about a job you once did or what kind of part-time job you would like to choose for yourself.
(if you never did a job and are not going to take one, explain why.)