Have you ever thought about what job you would plan to take on in the near future? High school students, primarily juniors and seniors, are already taking on bigger responsibilities by working a job, whether it is part time, during school, or full time over the summer. A study done by Statista showed that 41.5% of high schoolers and college students work a formal job that has a fixed income. But with all the responsibility that students have taken upon themselves, there are some thoughts and concerns that linger, such as why do they want to do this and is it as beneficial as it seems?
Many companies are offering job opportunities for teenagers and young adults, such as bagging groceries at a store, moving goods in storage, or taking orders in front of a cash register. Although these are small jobs, most of them provide one thing: a steady salary.
For many students, they’re not only looking for extra cash, but to gain the skills necessary for adult life. Student Diego Murcia (12) decided to pick up a side job at the popular clothing store, PacSun, to gain insight into economics and what the working environment is like.
“I wanted to make my own money and learn the ins and outs of what money is and how to earn it,” said Murcia. “You are able to also have that reward, being able to work for that money knowing that you earned it.”
Beside money, there are a couple of benefits to working a job. Many teenagers who decide to work a job can choose what field they work in. This gives teenagers more freedom to explore what they like, while they learn more about the field. Not only that, a job occupies teenagers by fulfilling the free time that teenagers have.
“It feels kind of nice because then it fills up my days with something to do,” said Murcia. “I’m also doing what I like, working with clothing, so it is kind of nice to do that.”
Furthermore, working at a younger age can help prepare students for the future. A job is rich in responsibilities, and teaching those responsibilities to students can build a good background or give starting experience for when students graduate and start venturing into the real world.
“[A job will] look good on applications in the future when it says ‘I have been working for a while,’” said student Alexander Garcia (12). “It teaches you responsibilities, time management, [and] helps you get an income.”
Although it looks positive, there are a couple downsides to having a job. Having a job is often thought of as an unnecessary burden in high school as it takes up one’s time. With time being taken away, studying for school and getting enough sleep is harder.
“School should always come first,” said Garcia. “You have less time to study. You got to get rest, and it’s not good to use all your time or stay up late.”
Whether or not you do it, it’s still not a necessity or required to do, but many students would highly recommend it, as it would help with future careers. Many students would agree that this would teach them dozens of things that life will throw at them as they grow up. Anson Banh (11) who worked as a programmer for a private company, wanted to learn more about the dynamics of having job-like responsibilities.
“I just feel like I need to prepare for the world and get an understanding of just a job in general,” said Banh.
As many students decide on working or not, many have believed that having a job would teach many valuable life lessons and skills that would help to jump start them to have success for when they grow into an adult.
And as adults, it’s a joy when getting that paycheck deposited, and it will likely be the same for many hard working students here at Ayala High School.
