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Kara Longo

Mrs. Cramer

Comp Pd. 3

18 March 2021

Are teen jobs good or bad?

After school jobs seem great because they foster independence and teach money

management, but are they doing more harm than good? After school jobs are something, many

students thrive to get, but they make it harder for teenagers to focus and can be overall,

overwhelming. Although they foster independence in teenagers, after school jobs should be

avoided because they cause teens to feel overwhelmed and often fall behind in schoolwork.

Working after school can become a huge distraction to the younger generation of teens.

Working can become a huge distraction from schoolwork, stated in an essay provided by Cristina

Mayan-Lopez, “some studies conclude that working reduces performance.” After getting a job

the student will be required to work a certain number of hours which will soon take away from

the teenagers after school life. This would include a student's homework and extracurricular

activities, such as sports and clubs. The distraction can lead to stress at home and in school. If a

student is unable to do their homework at home due to lack of time at home, it can soon lead to

stress of not being able to do their work.  Students’ schoolwork and mental health should easily

come first, and if they are not ready for a job why would you force them to be in a situation and

environment they cannot handle?

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Students will feel easy overwhelmed by all the stuff work throws at them and can also

lead to severe mental health problems that they might not know how to control. The buildup of a

job can led a student to feel mentally exhausted. This job might not only affect their grades, but

mentally some teenagers are not prepared for this type of responsibility and can lead to severe

health problems. It has been researched that working while attending high school has reduced

school performance. (Wolpin) This can lead teenagers to possibly the thought of dropping out

cause of the stress put on their backs. “Youths who drop out of high school have different traits

than those who graduate-they have lower school ability and/or motivation.” (Wolpin) Students

may not know who to talk to about their time management and balancing issues. Teenagers can

start to feel pressured to talk to someone about their issues balancing a school and job, but

simply may not know how to, or who to talk to leaving them stranded in a spot they do not want

to be in. The stress of teenagers doing school and a job all at once can lead to issues they cannot

control and leave them in darker place, not knowing where to go for guidance.

Even though teens may feel ready for a job, it may not be their decision and could be a

family matter where they need a job to help provide for a struggling family. Although, some

families are struggling financially, it is a lot harder losing a child over stress and pain of a job

than working a few extra hours to help as an adult. You can never know someone’s home life,

but if an adult is not doing their share and forcing a child to get a job, that is on them not the

teenager and that should always be taken into consideration as a child who is mentally unstable

should not be forced to do something they cannot handle. While it might be financially the

reason your child is getting a job, they still are a human and their health means way more than

making money overall.

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Yes, mental health is important, but what if this child wants the job badly and thinks they

are ready? Even though your child is completely fine with being responsible while having a job

and doing their schoolwork, let them have a job but if they are feeling under pressure, and start to

prioritize the job over schoolwork I believe they should have a sit-down conversation with a

parent, or even higher staff at the job to talk about trying to work around this issue. If a child

starts feeling under pressure, they should not be forced to keep doing it, they should have a

choice, they are humans just like adults and have a brain that is telling them what is good and

bad and should be comfortable telling an adult that they are struggling. Through all the financial

stress of a family, and your child wanting a job, there is still another side telling them if the job is

good for them or not and if they are feeling any type of way under pressure by one or the other,

they should not have a job that is in the way of academics and health.

Many students seek after-school opportunities, but they make it more difficult for

students to function and can be exhausting over time. Working after school can be a key cause of

stress among younger generations. All the work that is placed on students may completely

overwhelm them, which might lead to serious mental health problems that they may not be able

to control. So yes, students can have a job if deemed necessary but if it affects them and their

mental health it would be best to stay away from jobs to keep up their academics and social life. I

do not believe they do better for a student in all actuality and cause they student to be

overwhelmed instead of stable in their high school years.

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Works Cited 

Lopez-Mayan, Cristina. Working While Attending High School Tracks: The Effect on

Performance. Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, 2014,

https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2382502. Accessed 22 Apr. 2021. 

Wolpin, Kenneth I. "Why Youths Drop out of High School: The Impact of Preferences,

Opportunities, and Abilities." Econometrica, vol. 67, no. 6, Nov. 1999, pp. 1295-339,

doi:10.1111/1468-0262.00081. Accessed 22 Apr. 2021. 

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