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WORKING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS.
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Educational, economic, social & psycho-emotional advantages &/or disadvantages of jobs for students.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Educational, economic, social & psycho-emotional advantages &/or disadvantages of jobs for students.
Paper Introduction:
Working while attending high school has negative effects on students' school performance, on their spending habits, and on their social life and behavior. Students who devote too much time to work often do not have enough time to do homework, are too tired to pay attention in class, and may miss more school, resulting in low grades and even dropping out. The spending patterns of students who work show that they are not interested in saving for important goals or helping their families' economic situations. Instead they tend to increase their consumerism and spend most or all of their earnings on luxuries such as entertainment, cars, and clothing. Finally, students' jobs tend to limit their participation in normal socializing--in spending time with their families and friends--and expose them to pressures to behave in a more 'adult' way. This can include
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Thespending patterns of students who work show that they are not interested insaving for important goals or helping their families' economic situations.Instead they tend to increase their consumerism and spend most or all oftheir earnings on luxuries such as entertainment, cars, and clothing.Finally, students' jobs tend to limit their participation in normalsocializing--in spending time with their families and friends--and exposethem to pressures to behave in a more 'adult' way. The effects of working are related to both the students' physicalcondition and the amount of time available to them for school work. Not all jobs are bad for teenagers. Works CitedGreenberger, Ellen, and Laurence Steinberg. Working while attending high school has negative effects on students'school performance, on their spending habits, and on their social life andbehavior. Finch, Seongryeol Ryu, Michael T. This can includesmoking, using drugs, and drinking alcohol, which become more available asthey can afford them and they are in contact with older workers. Working often "hampers thedevelopment of close and meaningful relationships" with members of thestudents' own age group (Mortimer & Finch 6). Researchers found that 62 percent of first-timeworkers committed acts of deviance ranging from calling in sick when theywere well to stealing from their jobs. Some studies have indicated that students who work have lower gradepoint averages (GPA). After five years it was found that "they in fact had achievedmore years of education" (Greenberger and Steinberg 153). Call. Even if academically poorstudents are more likely to work and the relationship between GPA and work"does not always attain statistical significance," the effect is"consistently negative" and no study has ever shown that working "has apositive effect on GPA" (Worsnop 499). They also suffer otherhealth effects, such as greater susceptibility to illness, since theirgeneral health is often impaired by "unhealthy lifestyles--diminished sleepand lack of exercise" (Mortimer & Finch 6). But it is also very likely that working with adultsmay "initiate them into more adult-like patterns of recreation" and thatstudents who work may be "exposed to work stressors which they attempt toalleviate by drinking" (Mortimer, Finch, Ryu, Shanahan & Call 1249). Researchers do not always agree aboutwhether there is "a distinct cutoff with respect to work hours, beyondwhich adolescents should not work" (Mortimer, Finch, Ryu, Shanahan & Call1247). 1-24.Mortimer, Jeylan T., Michael D. Jeylan T. But the link between lower GPA and working is notentirely clear because a "selection effect" may exist, that is "the notionthat academically poorer students are disproportionately likely to hold ajob" because they already have less interest in school and do not expect todo well there (Greenberger and Steinberg 116). But the"adolescent workplace does not teem with opportunities for learning"--atleast not for learning very many things parents and teachers would considerdesirable (Greenberger & Steinberg 1 9). Students who work, especially those who work at night, are"vulnerable to chronic fatigue and exhaustion" and are sometimes unable toremain awake during class (Mortimer & Finch 6). When Teenagers Work: The Psychological Costs of Adolescent Employment. Homework." Editorial Projects in Education 17 (1998): n. Some students may also be lured intodropping out of school by the possibility of making more money.Greenberger and Steinberg found that "intensive employment during tenth andeleventh grades was associated with increased probability of dropping out"for some groups of students (152). Studies have found that after-school jobs are "peculiarlyAmerican" and that students in other countries who score much better onstandardized tests tend not to work at all compared to Americans (Viadero). The second area in which student jobs have a significant negativeeffect is in the use of the money students earn. "The Effects of Work Intensity on Adolescent Mental Health, Achievement, and Behavioral Adjustment: New Evidence from a Prospective Study." Child Development 67 (1996): 1243-61.Viadero, Debra. "Work vs. Clearly thenegative effects of holding a job during the school year outweigh anypositive effects the job may have. Internet. But jobs are more likelyto work against the preparation offered by school, to encourage foolishspending, and to cause students to be less responsible as they place thejob first or engage in harmful behaviors. Working students alsospend much less time with their families when they have to work "throughthe dinner hour" or are "unable to participate in family activities onweekends" (Mortimer & Finch 6). Ed. Baby-sitting for a few hours on a Friday night or working in a store on aSaturday afternoon may have good effects as teen-agers learn "how to relateto supervisors, cooperate with coworkers [or] deal with customers"(Mortimer & Finch 5). Finch. It also means that they donot take part in many of the activities that others take for granted. Mortimer and Michael D. But working more than a fewhours a week in a typical adolescent job with "low wages, irregular shifts,evening and weekend hours, minimal fringe benefits," and the very limitedrange of responsibilities that characterize teenagers' jobs can beunrewarding at best and quite harmful at worst (Worsnop 496). Available http://www.edweek.org/ew/vol-17/39work.h17Worsnop, Richard L. Greenberger and Steinberg also found thatstarting to work "relatively early in one's high-school career may have aparticularly negative impact on GPA" (117). "Work, Family, and Adolescent Development." Adolescents, Work, and Family: An Intergenerational Developmental Analysis. Working high-school students have been found to contribute verylittle of their income to their families. There is also very little "indirect transfer" involved inthis use of the money they earn since, if parents were the sole source ofsupport, they "would not buy them all the things they purchase forthemselves" (Greenberger & Steinberg 1 6). S.schools are so undemanding that kids can go to school and hold a 3 -hour-a-week job, and not do more poorly as a result" (quoted in Viadero). 1998. p. This is a way of defyingadult expectations which, in many cases, students were not interested in orcapable of meeting. These patterns of spending have been called premature affluencebecause once individuals take on paying for their own necessities they willno longer be able to spend in this way. 4 Nov. New York: Basic, 1986.Mortimer, Jeylan T., and Michael D. Yet even a student who doesacquire new skills, or learn responsibility, or contribute to the family'sbudget may still suffer fatigue and lack the time to get his or herhomework finished, see friends, or spend time with the family. The result is that students do not makecontributions either to their families or to their own futures--in the formof saving for college or other important goals--and they learn to spendmoney frivolously. Jobs were also found to have a negative effect on students'intentions regarding further education. But today over four million students work during theschool year and "about one half of seniors, one-third of juniors, and one-fifth of sophomores" work more than 2 hours per week--the equivalent of ahalf-time adult job (Viadero). Finch. As one student said in aninterview, he did not feel school was not important but "I definitely feelthat sometimes when I'm sitting around at school I could get more benefitout of working" (quoted in Viadero). In a study that began with high-school students and followed them after graduation, it was discovered thatthose who worked less in high school had a greater interest in highereducation. Studentswho work a great deal during the school year may be showing signs of"pseudomaturity" or "precocious development" in which they appear to becoping with an early transition to some adult settings and responsibilitiesbut actually are "withdraw[ing] from the dependent and preadult-likestudent role"--rejecting school--and engaging in behaviors that seem adultto them--such as using alcohol and drugs (Mortimer, Finch, Ryu, Shanahan &Call 1245). Online. The third problem area related to students' jobs is behavior and thisincludes missing out on some ordinary activities that are important totheir development, as well as engaging in behavior and developing habitsthat have very negative consequences. Theyparticipate less in school activities, such as clubs, teams and sportsevents, because they have to leave school for work. It is alsopossible that some jobs will provide teenagers with new skills or a chanceto improve or supplement the skills they have learned in school. School performance is one of the major areas in which work has anegative effect. Greenberger and Steinberg reportthat 82 percent of students workers "allocate none or 'only a little'" oftheir money "to help defray the costs of housing, groceries, and otherexpenses of living" and among those who made substantial contributions only9.5 percent gave half or more of their paychecks to their families (1 3).Typically teenagers use their earnings "to buy cars, designer clothes,tickets to rock concerts, compact-disc players or other luxury items"(Worsnop 495). Steinberg also points out that evenif no effect could be shown, "it's not any reason for celebration if U. Alcohol use is one of the worst negative effects of working longerhours. But research has shownthat, whether work is the cause or the effect, among students who startedworking in the tenth grade those who worked more hours "had lower GPAs intheir last year of high school" than those who worked fewer hours(Greenberger & Steinberg 117). Shanahan, and Kathleen T. Researchers have also foundthat students who work have "higher rates of tardiness and misconduct" inschool and that "less time is spent in doing homework" (Mortimer & Finch7). Despite theclaim that teenagers learn responsibility and self-reliance in their jobsGreenberger and Steinberg suggest that other activities "such as after-school sports, unpaid community service, or extensive involvement in homechores" might be just as likely to produce these effects (1 5). Not only are students who work more hours far more likely to usealcohol but this "is now the drug of choice for adolescents and animportant 'gateway' drug, preceding more socially unacceptable druginvolvement" (Mortimer & Finch 17). It mayseem that jobs for high-school students will offer them opportunities tolearn about working, to prepare them for adulthood, to earn badly neededmoney, or to develop a sense of responsibility. "Teens Work to Balance School and Jobs." Editorial Research Reports 1 (199 ): 498-5 6. But they do agree that at over 2 hours per week there is a rapid"dropoff in the amount of time students spend on homework and increase intheir feelings of detachment from school" (Viadero). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1996. Two other important effects that jobs can have on school relate tocurrent and future attitudes toward education. These settings--family, school, andfriends--are "the key social contexts of adolescent development" and bymissing these connections the greater maturity that seems to come with jobsmay not be genuine (Mortimer, Finch, Ryu, Shanahan & Call 1243). A Michigan studyof 7 , high school seniors found, for example, that those who work morethan 3 hours a week "were twice as likely to use cocaine as counterpartswho worked five or fewer hours a week" (Viadero). Students who devote too much time to work often do not haveenough time to do homework, are too tired to pay attention in class, andmay miss more school, resulting in low grades and even dropping out. Since they are accustomed to thistype of spending, however, many working students "may find it hard as youngadults to give up their expensive tastes and save for the future" (Worsnop499). In the past adolescents'work was "associated with familial financial need" but this is true muchless often today (Worsnop 499). The reasons for suchdrug and alcohol use may only be that working students have enough money topay for these items. For those who work the longest hoursthe switch to other drugs has been found in some studies. Although a student job has many negative effects the harm caused bywork will depend on the amount of time it consumes, "its quality, itsmeaning, and the context in which it occurs" (Mortimer & Finch 4). Among the more serious deviations"about 41 percent had committed some form of theft [and] about 45 percent,some [other] illegal or unethical behavior" (Greenberger & Steinberg 144).In some cases this behavior was tied to "releasing anger or reducingtension" caused by the jobs (and their inability to deal with difficultsituations), but "the most common forms of deviance involve activities thatconfirm one's ties to the peer culture," such as "working while 'buzzed' onalcohol or drugs" (Greenberger & Steinberg 147). Students who work oftendevelop a feeling of detachment from school and consider it unimportantcompared with the possibility of earning money. Greenberger and Steinberg also found that working high schoolstudents frequently engaged in other kinds of deviant workplace behavior.Negative behaviors associated with the workplace itself may be related toimmaturity in the workers.
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