Teenage Low Wage Life Hypertext Proposal

When I first wrote the 500 word essay on my topic invention for the research hypertext project, I knew I wanted to focus on teenage low-wage workers, but I wasn’t exactly sure how to narrow it down from there. Since class on Monday though, I’ve decided that I want to focus on teenage workers in the food industry – mainly comparing teenagers working in “high end” sit-down restaurants (i.e. Red Lobster, Chili’s, etc.) to teenagers working in fast-food eateries (i.e. McDonalds, Burger King, Jack in the Box, etc.). I also would like to try and compare teenagers working in the food industry to those working in other industries such as movie theaters, clerical, and retail. In order to do that, I’ll incorporate quite a few interviews with my friends who have worked in each of these industries as well as research some stories of teens working in these industries.

The various stakeholders that I’ll be aiming to represent in this hypertext include teenagers working in the food industry (“high end”, sit-down restaurants and fast-food eateries), teenagers working in the “other” industries (movie theaters, clerical, and retail), the parents of working teens, and possibly the employers of teens. Most of these will include interviews of people who have experiences in each of those categories except for employers of teens (I still have to figure out who or if I’d like to incorporate an interview there).

This hypertext will focus mainly on the wages teens earn in each of these jobs as well as how these wages differ depending on which state a teen resides in, why teens decide to work, the demands of these jobs along with the demands of school, social life, and their families, the benefits they receive (if any), and teens’ views on management (and vice versa). As mentioned earlier, I’d also like to try and compare and contrast the demands, wages, environment, and management between sit-down restaurants and fast food restaurants as well as with the other industries. Finally, I’d like to also incorporate my own job experience by comparing the food industry to my previous jobs.

So far, I’ve come up with a few questions that I’d like to explore with my hypertext:

1. How do the demands of work affect those of school, social life, family, etc.?
2. How do the reasons for employment vary amongst teens?
3. How do the conditions of working in a fast-food restaurant compare to working in a sit-down restaurant?
1. How about a restaurant to a job not in the food industry (i.e. movie theaters, clerical, retail)?
4. How do parents feel about their teens taking on jobs at such a young age?
5. How do those experiences of teens I interviewed compare to those represented in the books we’ve read as well as external sources?
1. How does my experience compare?
6. How does starting off in a low wage job shape teens’ lives?
1. What percent “get out”?
2. What percent “stay”?

The following is a list of concepts taken from Ehrenreich, Schlosser, and Shipler that I plan to focus on in my hypertext:

Ehrenreich

1. Teens working with older employees (p. 25-26, 70)

a. Differences in reasons for working

b. Differences in treatment?

Schlosser

1. Teens are main work force in fast-food industry (p. 68)

2. Simplicity/effectiveness & dangers in fast-food restaurants (p. 69, 72)

Shipler

1. Hard work does not always equal success in the future (p. 4)

2. The poor defining poverty – what does this mean for teens? (p. 10)

3. Low wage jobs “illegal activity” (easy manipulation of teens) (p. 19-20)

4. Obtaining good jobs depends on luck (p. 51)

5. Possibility of remaining in a low-wage job, at the bottom (p. 91)