After School Jobs

After school jobs
More than half of the United States twelfth graders average twenty or more hours of work per week. Some people say that after school jobs are beneficial because they give students a sense of responsibility, independence, and time management. These are all great things to practice however they can cut into schoolwork, family time, and personal time. These three things are very essential for a student. Family time is especially important because they know you the best and they are always there for you. Going straight to work after school can also be very tiring. High school students need all the sleep they can get, so working after school is ultimately a bad idea. After school jobs can be helpful to students who are in dire need of money but students should focus more on schoolwork, family time, and personal time since these things are most important. An after school job can cut into schoolwork, which is not a good idea. Schoolwork is very important and completing your homework each night is important in the long run. An after school job will either turn you away from your homework or push your homework off until late at night which can cut into sleeping patterns. In order to get a descent paying job later in life, finishing high school and some form of college is essential. A report conducted by the Institute of medicine and the National research council found that students who worked as many as fifteen hours per week dropped out of school at higher rates, had lower grades, and were not as likely to attend college. Based on that research it is better to be a full time student without a job than to be a part time student with an after school job. Being a part time student will set you up for a life full of struggles and complications. Since you will have a limited education, you will have limited job opportunities. Unless you want to work at Wal-Mart or McDonalds and enjoy a minimum wage salary for the rest of your life, a college degree is a must. Like I said before a high school diploma and some form of college are almost essential these days in order to get a well paying job. An after school job could also cut into family time and personal time. If you are going to a job right after school that usually means you are not seeing your family. Family is very important and by not seeing them you are not living a healthy lifestyle. Your family is one of the most, if not the most, important parts of your life, so by not seeing them on a regular basis, you are missing out. Your Family can be there for pretty much every problem in life and they are a great source to go to when times are rough. For example if you are having problems at school, like someone is making you mad or something like that, a family member could help you sort out the mess and get on with your life. After school jobs can also cut into your personal time. Personal time is essential especially in high school because times can be stressful and people can be aggravating, so knowing that you have some time to yourself is very reassuring. If you have a job everyday or almost everyday after school that means you are missing out on time with your friends. That may include hanging out with friends or just playing a sport with your friends. Either way friends are a great way to relieve stress and alleviate your self from everyday life. Overall after school jobs are very unhealthy for students because they can cause severe stress and can cut into very precious time. Some people however have to get a job in order to get by. For example some teenagers might have to pay for their own car or gas. In that case an after school job is needed. Some teens are not as fortunate as others and their parents do not pick up the car payment or the gas for the car. These things can make it hard for students to focus because if they do not have a job they will lose the car and if they do have a job their schoolwork is taking a hit. A survey was conducted in 2000 and it said students who had after school jobs and went to school full time were nearly twice as likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. This is a very telling statistic because there are a lot of students who do this which means a lot of teens these days are abusing drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. By using drugs, alcohol or tobacco students are setting themselves up for a rough life and an expensive one at that. In some case the money from jobs is being used to fund these addictive habits and that is terrible because the point of getting a job is now lost due to do drugs, alcohol, or tobacco. An after school job may also be needed to get money for college or just to get money for something that you are interest in purchasing. In that case, I think a student should only work very limited hours or just work on the weekends. In some extreme cases an after school job is an absolute necessity, but overall they should be avoided altogether or limited to the weekends since the weekends offer some extra free time. However pushing jobs off till the weekend is also not the best idea in the world because the weekend is a time for social life and sometimes homework. This proves that after school jobs are just not a good idea and should be avoided at all costs. Considering the statistics and facts about after school jobs, students should avoid them and focus more on schoolwork, family time, and their personal life. Also students need sleep and working long hours after school has a direct effect on sleep. When a student does not get adequate sleep they are more likely to be less attentive in school and that is bad news in the long run. In some extreme cases after school jobs are a must, but I think students should do everything in their power to avoid them. A quote by Steve Diggs at crosswalk.com stated "I encourage jobs only on as needed basis to raise money for real needs". This is a very good quote and it states a very strong opinion from Diggs. It shows that he is absolutely against after school jobs and that he thinks they should be avoided unless absolutely necessary and as a last resort. After school jobs is a very argumentative topic and can have many opinions and sides.
I, myself believe that after school jobs are a waste of time due to the fact that they keep you from focusing on schoolwork and enjoying time with your friends and family. Also they prove to be counter productive in the long run because they turn you into a part time student which can affect your work opportunities in the future and limit your ability as a person in the future. Reviewing some facts that I stated before, more than half of the United States twelfth graders average twenty or more hours of work per week and a survey was conducted in 2000, that said students who had after school jobs and went to school full time were nearly twice as likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. These are very telling statistics and they sum up the reasons on why not to have an after school job.