Should Kids Work During High School?
June 6, 2008 – 6:05 amDo you thinks that kids in high school should hold part-time jobs or do you think it best that they focus on their school work and extracurricular activities?
I understand the concept of “focusing on school work”, but I also think there is much to be gained by working part time during the school year.
Working builds discipline. Discipline can be developed in several ways at the high school level, but learning how to work a new job is one good method. Learning new skills, and learning to work well with different types of people, can also be a valuable life experience. Working also allows kids to learn about the kinds of jobs they like and the kinds of jobs they are good at. They also get to manage their own money and learn how much work is required to afford the things they want.
I enjoyed my time working while in middle school and high school. I worked construction jobs, drove a dump truck, worked at a golf course, and at a fast food restaurant. These jobs taught me valuable things:
- I learned that construction work is hard work (I did concrete work), and although you can get a good tan it’s not a job I wanted to do for an entire career
- I learned how to deal with customers, including irate customers at times
- I learned how to make change, think on my feet, negotiate with my bosses for better hours, improve my own work performance, and interview for jobs
- I made mistakes and learned how to fix then and avoid them in the future
- how to manage my own time and schedule between school work, sports practices, and part-time jobs
Some of these skills can be obtained throuhg school activities, but others cannot. And sometimes getting 95% of an experience is enough. Getting that final 5% can take a lot of time, and I think that early in life the breadth of experiences is more valuable than depth. Learning how to study, take tests, and understand mathematics is clearly important. But it’s not the only thing that’s important.
Working several different jobs throughout high school and college helped me recognize what I liked to do and what I’d rather avoid. Although I could have devoted more time to my school work I don’t think that striving for better grades would have been the best use of my time. I achieved A’s and B’s and was able to get quite a bit from my education. I think that it’s more important to get a wide variety of experiences during high school, and part-time jobs are one of many valuable experiences that I would highly recommend.
I think this advice also works well in college. And perhaps I just like working. I don’t know how I development a solid work ethic, but my experiences working multiple jobs in high school and college probably played some part.
If You Liked This Post Then Please Check These Out...
|
2 Trackback(s)