Effects of a Part Time Job in High School

2931 Words12 Pages
Sean McKinney Everyone comes to a position in their lives were they embark on the quest to grow up and get their first job. For many this time is during Junior and Senior year in high school. High school students, teenagers, want more responsibility and their own money to spend how they please. High school students who do get part time jobs and work for the duration of the school week are more probable to have a lower academic standing than their peers who don't. There are many reasons why an individual would get a job or start a career. They can be pressured into it by their parents to gain more responsibility and a work ethic. They may want to develop into being more independent and show to themselves, and others, that they have what it takes to move on from high school into the real world. The major contributing factor is money, which everyone needs to survive. Everyone on the planet wants as much money as they can get so they can buy everything they want and find happiness through materialistic possessions. Data from the 2011 Census shows that about twenty eight percent of high school students work part time jobs for around twenty hours a week. (Anderson) Only one percent of high school students tend to work a full time job. (Anderson) It is true that working such long hours can diminish a student's academic standing and have a suffering effect on their grade point average. It can even lead students to dropping out of high school if they fall to far behind in their classes. High school students who work either a full or part time job tend to focus less on school. They may be lacking sleep or just feel unmotivated to do any of their work. Working can be draining on one's physical and mental ability depending on the type of work a student would be participating in. A student may be suffering from exhaustion and only want to sleep in class instead of
Open Document