Should high school students work?

This controversial topic of high school students working has been discussed and debated by many. Everyone has a different perspective on it, and depending on what your culture is, that is how you will be advised.

Some parents, such as mine, are always nagging because I want to work, and they think that the moment I start working, my grades will go down. As Theodore Alevizos (12) said, “You have less time to do homework, you come home tired and you wake up tired,  and you somehow feel more tired than you were when you wake up.” With this being said, I understand why some parents would advise their children to way a bit until they start working. 

Being a high school student and a worker at the same time is a hassle and, as Jonathan Vicente (12) said, “sometimes your work schedule isn’t aligned with your school schedule.”

Other parents would tell their children to go out looking for jobs once they become old enough, ether because they need the financial support or because they want their children to develop responsibility. In this way, they could get a taste of the real world, where not everything is handed to us, but instead we have to work for it. 

I understand why it’s been a controversial topic in the past years. Some students don’t know how to cope with a double schedule of school and work. They have less time to do homework than a student that doesn’t have a job. Most students with a job would agree that they never have time to hang out with their friends unless they only work during the weekends, but most students who work have a part time job right after school. Schedules where you have to punch in at 4:00 p.m. when we get out of school at 3:26, leaving barely enough time to eat something. Some students do have home periods and that gives them more time to rest a bit and eat something, but what about those who don’t?

I feel as if most of the cons depend on each person. It depends if you know how to multitask, and some people just love being on a schedule like myself. For example, I have to keep myself busy or else I’ll start to procrastinate because I feel too comfortable as if I had already completed everything when in reality I have a stacks of things to get done.

While others can’t handle the stress of knowing that they need to get several things done at once, they tend to over think the situations and it causes them to stress out more than necessary.

If you’re the type to stress out about small things, I’m sure you’ll stress out trying to have a job while being a high school student. I’m not saying that you can’t be a college student and work and, as Jesse Moreno (a previous student) told me, “The difference between working as a high school student and a college student is that you could work around your schedule since you chose your own classes and the time you go in.” It gets easier, maybe the pressure of being a high school student with a job is too much for you.

Stress isn’t good, although it wont kill you either.