A serious question about Lebanese youth and work... - The Orange Room

Amirkani

I have a serious question about how our Lebanese youth feel about starting to work at a young age. By "young age", I don't just mean while in college but also when they're still teenagers or in high school.

I don't know how things are in Lebanon today but when I was still living there, young people (more so their parents) would not consider working (actually earn money) while still attending school. You either dropped out of school (for various reasons) and worked, or stayed in school and not worked. Why is that? I would like to hear from our students on how they feel about this issue and why they feel the way they do.

I know the Educational Forum might be better suited for this topic but I think that this issue is also related to the political life in Lebanon. Anyway, I think it's a critical issue and since the Political Forum seems to be the most popular on this board, I figured I can engage more students if I posted it here.

Superman

Well, im not a student anymore, i gratuated this year. But i can tell u it wasn't easy for me to study and work at the same time. My last 2 years were so hard, i used to work in the morning, go to university in the afternoon and then come back to work at night.
My past 2 years were a full time to me, i couldn't go out to any place, it was a routine, work-uni-work-home.
I can tell u it was very hard, but i never gave up, i continued to work and focus on my studies to get my license, and i did.
Its not like when u start work and ur in school or uni or whatever, that u have to continue one of these 2 things. You could continue both like i did. I don't know about the others but i proved myself and i was successful in university and at work.

Patriotic

I think that a young works, he will get have some resposabilities, we will grow up faster and become a real man that can take care of himself, so i prefer that young Lebanese works.

Amirkani

How about working part-time when you're still 14 or 15? In my days, parents used to consider this kind of work almost shameful, unless it was helping in a family business or shop.

Here, practically every 14 or 15 year old student works. They baby-sit, work at McDonald's, cut the grass for neighbors, clean floors, or whatever they can find. And trust me, for many it's not out of financial need. I have seen kids of millionaires do this kind of work.

I would like to know whether this kind of work is accepted by students and parents (and the society in general) in Lebanon nowadays. If it's not, then why do you think society looks down upon such work by students.

fad

yea this type of work is accepted but i think that parents will refuse to have children working in a " mhattet benzene" :lol:

Amirkani

Why not a gas station?

When you say it is accepted, do you mean accepted in theory or students (a good percentage of them) do actually work?

fad

why not? l2aano we are in lebanon not in canada where the lebanese work anywhere , here in lebanon el prestige ma byesmahlon. did u ever seen a lebansese student in a gas station?

Sayyan Benghazi

fad you are right but more to that, in the USA if you work at a gas station you earn maybe $8 an hour where as in Lebanon you earn maximum $10 a day, which means if a person works as a waiter in a restaurant he'll earn more than $10 from tips only.

Patriotic

Yes i prefer the half-time work, a guy can work as a waiter as Sayyan Said or a girl can work as a Vendeuse also part time, so he/she can have some money for him/herself

fad

yea ur right :D bess i think that is the economic situation be2ye heik el lebneine lah yeshteghel wein ma kein :(