Teenagers’ summer jobs becoming thing of the past

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Greg Gianforte won’t be serving jail time before going to Congress this summer. The Montana Republican, who won last month’s special election to fill the seat vacated by the new interior secretary, will instead have to complete 40 hours of community service and devote 20 hours to anger management sessions. Gianforte pled guilty to misdemeanor assault for physically attacking and injuring journalist Ben Jacobs at a campaign event on May 24, the day before the election. Judge Rick West said he had considered four days of imprisonment but shifted the sentence after learning that a work program alternative was not available for the charge. The judge didn’t want the congressman-elect to “take up space” in jail. “You accepted responsibility,” he said. “You apologized.”

Gianforte’s actions were completely disgraceful. Jacobs, an American reporter working for the British publication The Guardian, was questioning the candidate about the Republican health-care plan. Gianforte’s response was to slam him to the floor and start punching, yelling “I’m sick and tired of this,” according to a Fox News reporter on the scene. Jacobs suffered an elbow injury and broken glasses.

Following the incident, a few partisan voices tried to defend Gianforte. “Jacobs is an obnoxious, dishonest first-class jerk. I’m not surprised he got smacked,” tweeted Brent Bozell, a longtime media watchdog on the right. It was an absurd defense of the indefensible.

We hope that anyone who sought to downplay the assault pays equal attention to Gianforte’s recent actions: A June 7 written apology that doesn’t weasel out, and a symbolic donation of $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists (symbolic in that the tech entrepreneur’s net worth approaches $300 million).

“My physical response to your legitimate question was unprofessional, unacceptable and unlawful. As both a candidate for office and a public official, I should be held to a high standard in my interactions with the press and the public. My treatment of you did not meet that standard,” he wrote. “Notwithstanding anyone’s statements to the contrary, you did not initiate any physical contact with me, and I had no right to assault you. I am sorry for what I did and the unwanted notoriety this has created for you. I take full responsibility. I understand the critical role that journalists and the media play in our society. … I made a mistake and humbly ask for your forgiveness.”

The “notwithstanding anyone’s statements to the contrary” is important. His campaign spokesman falsely claimed that Jacobs acted first by grabbing the candidate’s wrists.

Jacobs has behaved correctly by keeping his cool. “I have accepted his apology and fully expect his thoughtful words to be followed by concrete actions once he has taken his seat in Congress,” he said. “I hope the constructive resolution of this incident reinforces for all the importance of respecting the freedom of the press.”

As always, journalists should stay alert while keeping a sense of perspective. In Mexico, at least nine journalists have been killed this year. In Russia, the body count is three so far for 2017. See the Committee to Protect Journalists website for more at cpj.org.

Ilearned how to keep golf balls from bashing me in my shins. That was the most important skill a kid could learn at the driving range where I worked. I was in the eighth grade. The lousy job paid only $1 per hour.

Though I usually picked golf balls early in the morning before the golfers arrived, sometimes I worked the evening shift. I’d put a big cage over my shoulders and head and pick golf balls while dozens of golfers tried to bean me.

I bring up this unpleasant experience in regard to a Bloomberg article I read. Whereas summer jobs were a rite of passage for the baby-boom generation, many of today’s teens are opting out of the workforce — despite a low unemployment rate and a demand for summer workers.

According to Bloomberg, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics “expects the teen labor force participation rate to drop below 27 percent in 2024, or 30 points lower than the peak seasonally adjusted rate in 1989.” Why are fewer teens taking summer jobs? One reason is that jobs typically tailored for teens are either shrinking or being taken by older folks (who are supplementing their retirement income) or by immigrants. Another is that more teens are attending summer school, participating in extracurricular activities and volunteering.

Though Bloomberg doesn’t mention it, some argue there is another reason: Fewer teens are willing to flip burgers or work manual labor during their summer vacation — preferring to play video games inside air-conditioned houses instead.

Whatever the reason, it is a shame that fewer teens are working summer jobs. Such work exposes them to how industry operates. It teaches them the value of a dollar. It gives them dignity as they exchange their labor for money they can use to support their education. TOM PURCELL RJ Matson, Roll Call

I got my very first job in the summer before I became an eighth-grader. I persuaded a neighbor to hire me to cut her lawn for five bucks. She had an electric mower with a long extension cord — which I promptly ran over and destroyed. I got canned before I finished the job.

After working a few summers at the driving range for a buck an hour, I got the entrepreneurial bug. I decided I was a stone mason. Many homes in Pittsburgh have retaining walls, which have to be rebuilt every so many years. I put ads in the paper and went to work.

After a few months of mistakes and mishaps, I learned how to bid the jobs. I hired two or three others to help me run the jobs. I slowly began to master the art of cutting and placing stones. And the cash came rolling in. I was doing mighty fine for a 17-year-old and earned enough in a few months to pay for my first year of college.

I worked a series of jobs in college: dishwasher, janitor, handyman, grass cutter. I worked as a bouncer, too, which involved kicking drunk people out of bars and mopping up that which some patrons couldn’t keep down — the most respect I ever got then or now.

In any event, these jobs helped me learn how to socialize and work with others. I learned that some people are not very nice and sometimes not very honest. I learned self-reliance and the joy that comes with a job well done.

As more of today’s teens miss out on such experiences, how might that affect their future?

At the very least, they’d better stay off driving ranges, as they will never learn how to keep errant golf balls from bashing them in their shins. Sean Delonas, Cagle Cartoons