Should High School Students Work? Essay Example

Introduction

Hard economic times in America have seen some students defer their educational dreams and aspirations. However, for those privileged to be in school do not seriously take up the chance and develop themselves for future life plans. Employing high school students in part-time jobs come with some merits despite marginal challenges on the student. According to the United States' labor department, a high school student aged 14 to 15 years is eligible for part-time work for not more than 18 hours during a school-going week. The department allows students for forty hours on weeks they are not in school, eight hours on days they are not going to scholl and three days on days the students are going to school. The appropriate stipulated time according to the labor department is between 7 am and 7 pm.

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This work, therefore, examines the pros and cons of high school employment (part-time) and if it is right for high school students to take up the employment opportunity in the labor market. Basing from personal experience and other literature done on the topic high school students getting into the labor market as part-timers have the following advantages; income generation that helps the students both the orphaned and those who have parents manage their bills development of responsibility and proper time management, resume builder and improvement of people skills. However, the disadvantages that might arise to poor monetary management, stress from balancing work and school, poor performance due to straining from the two sectors of attention, poor treatment at the workplace, workload and indulgence into drug and alcohol abuse (Lattimer and Riordan 18-23).

Should high school students work?

Yes. According to my personal experience, it is vital for high school students to work since it enables them to develop essential non-cognitive skills essential for survival in the outside world. Apart from growing out of the comfort zones where their parents or sponsor wholly manage their welfare, the working of high school students equips them with the real-life situations such as hard work, open and liberal opinionated individuals. The first discipline begins by managing of personal time. For one to succeed in whatever they choose to do, they must be self-disciplined. This will enable the students to schedule their events (work, school, and leisure) appropriately. This will then result in self-satisfaction that will make the students comfortable with the new condition.

Students should work to support themselves by catering for some amenities that the parents might not be able to provide. Having financial freedom at the age of a high school student offers other useful avenues where they can engage their money like starting a business after school, do other courses after school or even settling their high school fees especially to the orphaned. Apart from having financial freedom student who works can achieve high educational standards since the opportunity of working will motivate them to attain required scholarly papers and skills that will enable their growth and promotion in the employment sector. As a result, their dedication to books will not be disrupted by work, which will lead to positive academic qualifications. High school students who work have a higher level of responsibility and esteem compared to other students. This is because these students have a schedule stipulated for every activity of the day, which will prevent them from getting idle that might lead to indulgence into some vices in school and at home ("Pros And Cons: Should My Teen Work During High School?").

Working increase experience and "people skill." Through work, the students are exposed to various environments and situations that equip them with necessary skills that will enable them to be future managers. In aspiration of job increment students are exposed to people skills that expand their network at work. This builds them to be able to know how to handle a certain situation. For instance, in the current world, a person can wait for more than thirty minutes outside before people open. After opening, they dare to look at their watches then at you, making your life a living hell. Such human behavior at workplaces equips student working early enough with the necessary technique (non-cognitive skills) like patience, the humbleness that will enable them to confront such characters facing them at a tender age. This will nurture their behavior and perception of how the real work works and how it will treat you ("Should Students Work during High School?").

No. One of the disadvantages of high school students working is the misuse of money by indulging in drugs and alcohol abuse. The parents still cater a good number of student who is working, but their welfare lacks constructive things to do with their money. As a result, this student indulges in nightclubbing, alcohol intake and finally use of drugs that deteriorate their performance at work and in school. Such students have no reason for planning for their income that is why a number end up miss using the money earned from work. Another disadvantage comes from the working sector where some employers might decide to misuse the cheap labor by underpaying the students, which might lead to stress at work affecting their education as well. Such kinds of employers take advantage of the cheap labor, exploit them with the workload and pay them peanuts. This stress from working will affect the academic progress of working students. This is why some researchers argue that high school working students will have reduced educational results and improvement due to the divided attention in work and school. This condition and situation imposed by the employers on students might make them be pessimists, cynicism and tired since they will be working a lot but receiving money that is not proportional to their labor input. In this case, students who work and do not have any vision of their money will result to spend it for leisure compared to their counterparts who work and use constructively spend their cash ("5 Reasons Why You Should Get A Part-Time Job In High School").

Conclusion

In conclusion, students in high school should work. This is due to the financial freedom that comes with a lot of self-discipline and responsibility that develops students at a younger age for future life. It will also enable the students to concentrate on their studies with the aim of improving their working condition and experience. However, some scholars argue that this will be divided attention leading to drug abuse, exhaustion, low academic performance and reduced monetary management. According to Lattimer and Riordan (18), 90% of students in America are employed as part-timers. This does not affect their academic performance but instead, increase their concentration and responsibility in academics and outside class activities. Working saves student the leisure activities like clubbing that might lead to distortion of morals and schoolwork. Therefore, from personal experience, high school students should work since this will have a significant advantage and impact in their lives compared to the marginal Hazards (Lattimer and Riordan 18-23).

Works Cited

"5 Reasons Why You Should Get A Part-Time Job In High School." Her Campus. N.p., 2018. Web. 17 Apr. 2018.

"Pros And Cons: Should My Teen Work During High School?." Student-Tutor Blog. N.p., 2018. Web. 17 Apr. 2018.

"Should Students Work During High School?." Debate.org. N.p., 2018. Web. 17 Apr. 2018.

Lattimer, Heather, and Robert Riordan. "Project-Based Learning Engages Students In Meaningful Work." Middle School Journal 43.2 (2011): 18-23. Web.