Should teenager work while they are students

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/22/learning/should-all-high-school-students-have-part-time-jobs.html

Table of Contents Show

Balancing a Job with High School
Should students work while studying?
Should students work while they study why or why not essay?
Do you think it is a good idea for students to have jobs while they are still students?

Student Opinion

What can teenagers learn from working?

Credit... BjelicaS/Getty Images

Sept. 22, 2022

Have you ever had a part-time job? If so, where did you work and what did you do? If not, do you want to have this experience by the time you graduate from high school? Why or why not?

What do you think teenagers can learn from working?

In the Opinion essay “The Best Extracurricular May Be an After-School Job,” Pamela Paul, a columnist who worked multiple jobs in high school during the late 1980s, presents an argument for why students today should work:

Lots of American teenagers need to work after school to help support their families. But there’s a case to be made that those who don’t need to work should get a job anyway.
Conditions couldn’t be more optimal. Unemployment, close to a 50-year low, has made the kinds of jobs well suited to kids — no prior experience, minimum wage, part-time — more widely available.
Yet fewer teenagers work nowadays than a generation ago. The share of teenagers in the work force has risen from a low of roughly a quarter in 2010 to about a third of older teenagers holding down a job of one kind or another since the pandemic. But when I was in high school in the late 1980s, around half of 16- to 19-year-olds held jobs. Gen X parents who grew up working after-school shifts at the local drugstore often lament the fact that their own children haven’t always had the same opportunities.
Many instead favor an array of extracurricular activities that burnish their college applications, like student government and peer tutoring. This may be a mistake even for those parents and kids more concerned about college admissions than about what happens after that. Consider that having an afternoon job cultivates skills like time management and instills a sense of independence and personal responsibility — attributes that many college administrators say some students today lack.
But after-school jobs teach more concrete lessons as well. Personally, I learned more from working outside school — starting with three afternoons a week when I was 14 and ending with three jobs juggled, seven days a week, my senior year of high school — than I did in the classroom.

Students, read the entire essay, and then tell us:

Are you convinced by the argument that teenagers should get an after-school job, whether they need one or not? What do you think are the author’s most persuasive points? Is there anything you think she overlooked — either in support of or against teenagers working?
Ms. Paul lists what she sees as 10 valuable things she learned from the part-time jobs she held as a teenager. Which do you think are the most important? If you have had a job, what would you put on your own list of lessons from working?
Would you have time for a part-time job if you needed or wanted one? Would it be worth giving up extracurricular activities, studying time or your free time to get a job instead? Why or why not?
Based on what you know about college admissions, do you think admissions committees value work experience enough? Do you think they should value it more than they do? Would you be more likely to get a job if they did?
Ms. Paul says that she learned more at work than she did in the classroom. Have you ever felt that way about an experience you had outside of school? What did you learn about yourself, others or life in general?

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

Find more Student Opinion questions here. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate them into your classrooms.

I have a fifteen-year-old son, and I have told him that by this time next year he will have a part-time job. The news continuously highlights stories of students graduating from college with mountains of debt that take decades to pay off. Anything we can do to mitigate the problem is a bonus in our book, so his mother and I are big proponents of our teen punching a time clock.

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Additionally, there are other benefits to having a job.

Colleges like it when they see on a student’s resume that he has had a job in high school. It shows that the teen has initiative and wants to take on responsibilities.

Employment also gives students a feeling of independence and pride and can teach valuable life skills, such as how to get along with difficult personalities or time management.

Balancing a Job with High School

Still, figuring out how my son can reap the rewards of having a job without suffering setbacks in other areas of his life is the key.

I always thought that a minor couldn’t legally work until he turned 16, but that isn’t the case in most states. Where we live in the state of Washington, teens can begin working as young as 14, but there are many stipulations. For example, a 14- or 15-year old can only work (on school days) three hours a day, between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., but on weekends they can work a standard eight-hour day. Sixteen- and 17-year old minors can work four hours a day, Monday through Friday, but must be finished by 10 p.m., and midnight on the weekends. (There is information on the amount of time minors may work and the types of jobs that are off limits for teens under 18 on each state’s Department of Labor website.)

I’ve done the math—if he works eight hours a week at $11 an hour (minimum wage where we live) for 52 weeks—that would equal $4,576. In just one year, he could almost earn enough to pay for two semesters of community college.

So, let’s say your teen—driving age of course—goes out and lands a gig at the local grocery store as a bagger. He’s attending high school, participating in the marching band, and playing on the basketball team. Additionally, he has roughly an hour or two of homework every night.

With that schedule, how many hours is too many to ask, “Paper or plastic?”

High school students are under more pressure than ever before, and we don’t want to overwhelm him. Research has consistently shown that working over the standard 20 hours a week limit negatively affects teens in a variety of ways, such as school performance, lack of sleep/impaired driving, and academic/behavioral problems. In 2011, researchers from the University of Washington, the University of Virginia, and Temple University issued a report finding that working more than 20 hours a week during the school year results in an increased likelihood of lower grades and other academic issues, mainly because of sleep deprivation. Additionally, a study published in the Sociology of Education in the same year cited that working more than 20 hours each week leads to a higher dropout rate.

High school students who worked at a moderate level (less than 20 hours per week) fared no differently regarding academic performance or problem behavior than their peers who did not have a job.

The trick is finding the right balance, and I believe it comes down to what will work for your family. Look at things like how many hours per week your teen already has scheduled with other activities, course load, and any other responsibilities–and then piggy-back on that.

For more on part time jobs:

Based on everything I’ve read, a reasonable number of work hours during the school year for my son would be around 10, with the majority of those coming on the weekends. Additionally, his job should have supervision by an adult, and he should receive the proper training to ensure his safety.

I am excited to see how my son will handle his first job. It will give him a little spending money, the opportunity to tuck some aside for college, and most importantly, still have time to be a teen.

Bryan Johnston

Bryan Johnston is a freelance writer, author of several books, and the Creative Director for a creative agency in Seattle, Washington. He is married, has two teens, and one large goldendoodle. He loves baseball and movies and thinks A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles is the most enjoyable book he’s ever read.

Should students work while studying?

The personal benefits of working while studying are usually greater than the actual income. You will become a more responsible and disciplined person, more self-confident, learn to spend money more carefully and wisely and overall, the experience will certainly turn out to look good on your CV.

Should students work while they study why or why not essay?

Working while studying helps students to realize their potential and develop crucial professional skills. Only in the working environment, it is possible to gain invaluable practical experience and knowledge.

Do you think it is a good idea for students to have jobs while they are still students?

It is believed that working while still studying is a good idea for teens. Because meeting many kind of people while working is a good way to know the society. Besides that, wage, which is earned from the spot, can be motivation for them to work harder.