The counselor for continuing education at Community High School in Michigan, John B. Boshoven said that college and school costs are high and students want to have opportunities to earn extra money. However, he also warns that school takes students’ full-time ("Students & Part-Time Work", n.d.). According to a new survey by Citigroup and Seventeen magazine for about eighty percent of students are holding part-time jobs (Mukherji, 2013). In this essay, first of all, we will consider federal rules for working teenagers, then we will discuss advantages and disadvantages of a part-time job for high school students. After that, there will be given a real life example followed by a conclusion.
Federal rules for working teenagers set by the Department of Labor include that teenagers at the age of 14-15 years old can work in retail, food services and lifeguarding three or fewer hours on school days and 18 hours or less per week after 7a.m. and before 7 p.m. on all days except from June 1 to Labor Day. Students at the age of 16-17 years old can work unlimited hours in nonhazardous jobs (Blake, 2015).
There are also negative effects of holding a part-time job for students. According to Herbert Marsh and Sabina Kleitman research, working students have lower academic grades and career objectives than their counterparts regardless of age, sex, rasa, socioeconomic group member or an academic ability of 12,000 students. The Marsh Kleitman research also shows that working high school students are less likely to take part in extracurricular activities for a variety of reasons (Anderson, n.d.). One of them is that students feel abandoned from friends, family and relatives since they work after school. Such kind of students feel increased stress since balancing work, school and family are too hard. Research suggest that drugs and alcohol abuse is higher for students working more than 15-20 hours per week.
In my own case, I worked only on summer holidays since I spent my free time on ballroom dancing classes after school. In summer holidays, I worked for a touristic company as a distributor of advertisement brochures and flyers of hot tours. As the result of hard working, I not only got a good wage but also a great discount for my first summer trip to London. This great experience fed in my head that ‘working is good'. When I became a student I also worked part-time as a promoter in a night club for a long time. This job has brought good money, fame and networking for me, however, it had a bad effect on my studying and lifestyle. I made a right decision to bend mind to study however I have never regret about my work experience since I became independent, nimble, communicative, adaptable, responsible and invulnerable.
In conclusion, working part-time is very beneficial for high school students. The main point that students have to find a balance between work, studying and personal life. Work has not to be a hurdle in taking the time to complete school homework, participating in different activities, spending time with family, relatives and friends or having enough sleep and rest. A good job should fit your lifestyle, bring extra money, enable you to develop strong personal skills, help you to integrate quickly into a new culture and meet new friends, open future opportunities, and good work experience.
Works Cited
Anderson, M. (n.d.). What Are the Effects of Part Time Jobs on High School Students?
Retrieved June 02, 2016, from http://oureverydaylife.com/effects-part-time-jobs-high-school-students-18007.html
Blake, C. (2015, June 04). Professional Students: Benefits and Risks of Working While
in High School. Retrieved June 02, 2016, from http://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/news/high-school-student-jobs/
Greaves, M. (2013, August 26). 6 Benefits Of Having A Part-Time Job At School. Retrieved
having-a-part-time-job-at-school/
Mukherji, A., JD. (2013, August 22). Legal for Students to Work During the School Year?
Retrieved June 02, 2016, from
http://blogs.findlaw.com/free_enterprise/2013/08/legal-for-students-to-work-during-the-school-year.html
The College Board. Students & Part-Time Work. Retrieved June 02, 2016, from
https://professionals.collegeboard.org/guidance/prepare/work
