I think there needs to be more discussion about the status of 18-year-olds who are still in high school, or for that matter, 19-21 year-olds, who are still unbelievably constrained by laws on all levels. Get me started on the driving restrictions of 19-and-unders in my state. Or better yet, don't, because I'll just end up flailing.
I turned 18 the November of my senior year of college. I worked part-time as a regular babysitter, in no small part because any other job would have required my mother to drive me, something that had not gone well the one time I'd done it (minimum wage jobs are not known for letting employees leave at regular times). As it was, I walked a mile and a half to and from one gig. Getting a car would have eaten up any money I was making. Most importantly, I was focusing on getting into a good school so I could leave. I probably could have afforded $10 a month, but that wouldn't have been everything I'd have had to pay for, would it?
In my job, I see every day barely-adults who have spent their whole lives under "my house/my classroom, my rules," who are then suddenly cut loose, expected to handle getting a job, choosing classes, keeping track of a million deadlines, all while still relying on parents to fill out things like FAFSA forms and having their financial aid dependent on parents' income. Many just take right to it. Others, well, they flounder. A lot.
no subject
I turned 18 the November of my senior year of college. I worked part-time as a regular babysitter, in no small part because any other job would have required my mother to drive me, something that had not gone well the one time I'd done it (minimum wage jobs are not known for letting employees leave at regular times). As it was, I walked a mile and a half to and from one gig. Getting a car would have eaten up any money I was making. Most importantly, I was focusing on getting into a good school so I could leave. I probably could have afforded $10 a month, but that wouldn't have been everything I'd have had to pay for, would it?
In my job, I see every day barely-adults who have spent their whole lives under "my house/my classroom, my rules," who are then suddenly cut loose, expected to handle getting a job, choosing classes, keeping track of a million deadlines, all while still relying on parents to fill out things like FAFSA forms and having their financial aid dependent on parents' income. Many just take right to it. Others, well, they flounder. A lot.