A Legislator Has Introduced a Bill That Would Allow Adolescents

question 6

Essay

A legislator has introduced a bill that would allow adolescents in her state to hold after-school jobs, but that would limit the number of hours that adolescents can work in such jobs to 10 hours per week or fewer. There is a group in the legislature who oppose the bill: they believe that adolescents should be allowed to hold after-school jobs with no restrictions placed on hours worked per week, and that adolescents should work at least 20 hours every week in order to build character. Based on what you know about employment and adolescent development, which of these positions would you support? Why do you support this position over the other? Which type of jobs do you think would help adolescents feel more mature, competent, and dependable?

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Definitions:

Allele Frequencies

The proportion of all copies of a given gene variant (allele) present in a particular population.

Generations

Sequential stages in the familial lineage, where an individual's successors are considered a new generation.

Disruptive Selection

A special type of directional selection in which changes in the environment favor two or more variant phenotypes at the expense of the mean. Compare with stabilizing selection and directional selection.

Directional Selection

A mode of natural selection in which an extreme phenotype is favored over other phenotypes, causing the allele frequency to shift over time in the direction of that phenotype.