I definitely agree that early work in a McJob is not a good experience or a good use of time for middle-class kids who don't need to work. I have a younger sib

I definitely agree that early work in a McJob is not a good experience or a good use of time for middle-class kids who don't need to work. I have a younger sibling who wanted to work for some extra spending cash and my parents encouraged her to get a fast food job. She was a straight arrow up until then, but her high school performance seriously derailed because of the had-to-work friends (read: highschool dropouts, long-term poor, soft drug users, etc) she met while building tacos at Taco Bell. She finally wised up and made it to community college, but she was in a serious downward spiral for a long time. I know not everyone's experience is like this, but I definitely won't be pushing my kids to get a low-skill low-wage job when I could instead have them investing their time in skill-based hobbies or school.