Should High School Students Get Jobs Essay

Working While Attending School

The benefits of working while attending high school are that it gives the student the opportunity to take on additional responsibilities, gain some experience in the real world, interact with new people, and learn a skill or trade that could potentially be useful at a later stage in one’s life. One can obtain interpersonal communication skills, develop a list of items to put on a resume, learn what it means to have a work ethic, learn how to manage money, and learn how to manage time (Hintze).

The drawbacks of working while attending high school are that it means one will have less time to spend on studies, reading assignments, and doing homework. If one factors in social time and the need to be with friends, the window of opportunity for actually focusing on school work in the after school hours closes substantially. Those who work while attending school will likely face increased stress to fulfill multiple roles and may feel like they are sacrificing some of their adolescence in order to get a taste of what it means to be an adult before they are actually ready to take that step, giving the young student a negative impression of work (Hintze; Walden University)

Is there a way to reconcile the two? Yes—for just because one has a job while attending high school does not mean one has to spend every waking moment outside of school at one’s job. Many high school students obtain part time jobs as a way to secure extra cash, start saving up for college, buy a car, or set aside money for a rainy day. They might work a shift or two on the weekends—which means they have the whole rest of the week that they can devote to school work.

As with anything else in life, there is a happy medium to be observed and a balance that one should strive to find. Students can work profitably while attending high school—but they should not work so much that it gives them a negative experience.

Works Cited

Hintze, Renae. “Should My Teen Work During High School?” Student Tutor, https://student-tutor.com/blog/should-my-teen-work-during-high-school/

Walden University. “Should Students Hold Jobs While in High School?” Walden University, https://www.waldenu.edu/online-doctoral-programs/doctor-of-education/resource/pros-and-cons-of-working-a-job-in-high-school