___________________________________________________________________________
Did you have a part-time job when you were in high school? If so, you are very typical, eight out of every ten American teenagers have jobs at some points during their school years. Did you work because of necessity or simply to have some spending money? Was the work itself a valuable experience?
According to a report from the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine, teens who work more than 20 hours per week after school are less likely to finish high school and more likely to use drugs. This was true, regardless of the teen's economic background. The report also noted that young people are injured at work twice the rate of adults.
___________________________________________________________________________
Many teenage students today hold part-time jobs. This trend conforms to the American belief of the moral benefits derived from working. However, some research challenges the value of part-time work for teenage students who do not have to help support their families. Let's look at both sides of the issue.
On the positive side, paid work is generally believed to teach young people to handle money responsibly. It helps them develop good work habits, such as promptness, reliability, and efficient management of time.
A good part-time job helps teenagers assume responsibility and work with people of different ages and backgrounds. It enables an adolescents to learn workplace skills, such as how to find a job and how to get along with employers, co-workers, and sometimes the public. By helping a young person learn more about a particular field of work, it may guide her or him in choosing a career. Furthermore, by showing adolescents how demanding and difficult the world of work is and how unprepared they are for it, part-time jobs, especially menial ones, sometimes motivate young people to continue their education.
On the negative side, research has questioned the benefits of part-time work and has identified serious costs. Most high school students who work part-time have low level, repetitive jobs in which they do not learn skills useful later in life. Teenagers who work are no more independent in making financial decisions and are not likely to earn any more money as adults than those who do not hold jobs during high school.
Outside work seems to undermine performance in school, especially for teenagers who work more than 15 to 20 hours per week. Grades, involvement in school, and attendance decline. Students who work more than 15 hours a week are more likely to drop out of school and thus to be less prepared for careers and for life.
There are several drawbacks to working while you are a student. Young people who work long hours are less likely to eat breakfast, exercise, get enough sleep, or have enough leisure time. They spend less time with their families and may feel less close to them . They have little contacts with adults on the job, and their job usually reinforce gender stereotypes. Some teenagers spend their earning on alcohol or drugs, developing critical attitudes toward work, and cheat or steal from their employers.
However, some of these undesirable effects may result, not from working itself, but from the factors that motivate some teenagers to take jobs. Some want to work because they want. Jobs may actually help keep such young people out of trouble by providing legal ways for them to earn money.
