Discrimination Against Young People?

Discrimination is a huge issue these days. Discussions, accusations, defenses, and laws about discrimination are in the news everyday.

But I’m going to address a type of discrimination that’s not talked about very often: discrimination against young people. Yes, you read that correctly: discrimination against young people

It’s been said that the current generation has been raised with a silver spoon in its mouth, and there is some truth in that. But when I say discrimination, I’m not talking about nasty stuff like not being allowed to use the front door of a restaurant, or not being allowed to go to college. I’m talking about workplace discrimination.

Workplace discrimination against young people generally takes two forms:

Legal Discrimination

The law in fact requires employers to discriminate against young people certain dangerous jobs, certain shifts, and certain tasks are not available to young people under the age of 18. I remember being frustrated by this when I had a job at 17. I was a responsible young adult willing to work hard and safely. In fact, I was one of the best workers in the store, and much safer than some employees twice my age. But I was discriminated against because I was a minor.

Of course, I realize that there are valid reasons for these discriminatory rules: irresponsible people, law suits, etc. But while the rules may be necessary, they are still frustrating.

Subtle Discrimination

The second type of discrimination is more subtle. This type happens when people (customers, employers, etc.) don’t take you seriously because of your age. Or to put it another way, people assume that one young person is like another. Employers who have a staff comprised of lazy high school students who spend half of their time on the clock flirting just assume that all young people are the same. A customer you’re trying to sell a product to may assume that you are no different than his nephew, who spends his life playing video games (in other words, the customer doesn’t consider you a professional, knowledgeable salesperson).

Conclusion

The problem comes when a hard working, honest, responsible young person wants to succeed they are not offered quite the same opportunities that people over 18 are. What’s the solution? In my next post, I’ll explain how cyber-business leveled the playing field for me and helped me to succeed.