How many of you have fallen asleep in English class?; you couldn't sleep the night before because you got tired from work late at night, and when you were imagining yourself in your beautiful and delicate bed.....PUFFFFFF!!!! A tiny light flashes in your brain and makes you remember that the response paper of your English class is due tomorrow before noon. Similarly, I'm sure that many of you has also be able to save money to buy the newest and advance Iphone, and the best of all is that the money came out directly from your pocket. This is a great satisfaction that teenagers have when they have a work after school. Working as a teenager could be a great opportunity to develop the skills and obtain a sense of responsibility. However it could become a problem if they over work during school time, leading them to neglect their homework and fell their grades. This is a very controversial issue. According to the article “High School workers: What Price? Mixed views: some say job experience is good, while other students are hurt academically” by Susan Orenstein, opinions related to this situation are mixed; some insist that “even flipping burgers can be a learning experience, encouraging teen-agers to better manage their time, interact with adults and develop responsibility,. On the other hand, some others think that excessive work has been shown to detract students from school performance”. In 1988 a study by UC-Irvine found that students lose interest in the job because after a while they find it boring and routinely. However, another study found that working in high school promotes good work habits. “When teenagers work significant hours outside of school, they become jugglers who may benefit, but also may miss out either academically or otherwise”, says the author. In fact many students enjoy a part-time job (with a flexible scheduled) after school which help them to plan their day better and make it work on time; they also learn how to work in team, how to deal with different people and make new friends. On the other hand, according to Susan Orenstein, a lot of teenagers, doesn’t have enough time to do their homework due to overwork; this not only leads them to fell grades, but prevents the involvement in school activities or volunteering in the community, and therefore the majority of them drop out of school. There are many reasons that induce teens to work after school; first, they want to help out their parents with some money, second, some of them live by themselves and are obligated to work in order to survive, some others want to have a sense of independence by paying for their phone bill, buying their own clothes, so forth and so on… These different reasons may have different consequences as well, but often they lead students to leave school. As a result of this some institution has implemented new strategies to keep students from leaving school and also give them the opportunity to build their skills. A good strategy is the creation of the so called “school-to-work” programs, “which place students in jobs tied to academics, with the aim of better preparing them for a career, and students whom are involved in work experience programs gain credits for their time spent in job” that way student could maintain focus on their subjects and at the same time making some money. Furthermore, Susan Orenstein gives us an example of a teenager, who lives in California and works 30 hours a week to help out her mother with the household expenses, but working so many times is distracting her from school. Under the California law, she should not been working so many hours; “12 and 13 year old are prohibited from working on school days; 14-15 year old are limited to 18 hours a week, not past 7:00 p.m.; 16 and 17 year old are limited to four hours on school days, not past 10:00 p.m., with the exception of Fridays. Students under 18 must obtain work permits from their schools, which may set stricter hours”. As a result of this, some students are now looking for some way of earning money that don’t conflict with their studies, but the majority of them keep dropping out of school to keep a job, which means that the strategies used to avoid this problem will take more time to see better results. Certainly, while some don't pay enough attention to this problem and believe is completely resolved because of the laws that protect the rights of young workers, the situation will not improve, since in many cases the teenagers choose to violate these laws as well as the managers who employ them. In my personal opinion I think the problem should be treated from the inside; parents should talk more frequently with their children about the job they have and if they notice any academic deficiencies, try to regulate the working hours. Similarly, students should talk to their teachers so that they indicate whether there has been a sudden change in their grades. In addition, the government should find a way to reduce the college tuition since this problem tends to be common in college students also.
Orenstein, Susan. “HIGH SCHOOL WORKERS: WHAT PRICE? MIXED VIEWS: SOME SAY JOB EXPERIENCE IS GOOD, WHILE OTHERS STUDENTS ARE HURT ACADEMICALLY. November 8, 1995
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