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Essay / Essay on an Overworked High School Student - 1100
Before extolling the fact that having a high school job may reflect a certain responsibility, it is worth considering the fact that the adolescent mind works differently from the adult version. There are still areas of growth. Deborah Yurgelun-Todd, director of neuropsychology and cognitive neuroimaging at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, says: "I think the frontal lobe, this part of the executive region that we studied, is not functioning still fully in adolescents; or at least our data suggests that this may not be the case. (“One reason why teenagers react differently to the world: immature brain circuits”). Their logic and reasoning differ greatly from their adult counterparts. Responsible adults understand that sacrifices must be made when faced with equally important tasks. For example, many adults who work full-time and attend school, full-time or part-time, often sacrifice a rich social life. This is because they understand that there are only a limited number of hours in a day and that sleep and other human activities must be factored into those hours. On the other hand, much of what it means to be a teenager lies in one's social life. They prefer to take lots of pills and powders to stay awake, Red Bulls or even sleep in class or at work in order to devote more time to their social life. They don't mind losing sleep if it means they will increase their social status. However, this loss of sleep can be extremely unhealthy for them. Since Etzioni claims that a third of fast food employees work more than 30 hours per week (251), when these students