The dawn of a new school year often makes students think about which activities outside of school are really worth their time.
According to CentSaiAdulting.com, 4.7 million teenagers consider a job to be worth this time. But is having more than one job really a valuable use of a student’s time?
Working a single part-time job can provide a student with increased self-discipline, time management skills and financial independence. Students who work one part-time job can work shorter and more flexible hours, therefore having more time for homework and extracurriculars. Working more than one job, however, sacrifices these benefits.
According to NCBI.com, a scientific website examining the benefits and risks of adolescent employment, working long hours can have numerous detriments. The website also states that the more hours a student works, the more likely they are to have lower grades, be absent from school, drink alcohol or smoke and even drop out of high school entirely.
Although deaths in the workplace involving adolescents are somewhat rare, they do occur. According to NCBI.com, around 68 teenagers died from work-related injuries between 1992 and 2000. Other stressors, such as lack of job satisfaction and feeling undervalued the workplace can lead to anxiety and stress, can coincide with depression and thoughts of suicide. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15 to 24 year olds, as stated on DoSomething.org.
It is understandable that a high school student may need to work two jobs to pay for college. Yet according to the New York Times, students are more likely to complete college if they worked 15 hours a week or less during high school.
If you are thinking about applying for a second job this year, save yourself the time and energy and reconsider. Although a job may provide you with money and benefits, it will also put you at risk to be more likely to be one of the 3,740 high schoolers who attempt suicide each year, according to JasonFoundation.com.