Many students at Benilde-St. Margaret’s have the stress of balancing a job on top of their already busy schedule. Managing time and knowing personal limits can be a struggle for students who are still learning time management skills and may not fully know how to balance their school work with the work at their jobs.
School is seven hours a day, five days a week, and on top of that, students also have the responsibility of finishing homework outside of class. Some students, such as Maya Western, believe that generally, schools do not accommodate the needs of students who work during high school, even though nearly 20% of high school students between the ages 16-19 have a job. “I'm really behind right now [In school], and I need to work a lot because it's seasonal…Schools don't account for that, and they just keep piling work on, they're kind of making it worse,” Western said.
Many students who work in high school have to fit in their shifts before or after school, creating an intense schedule that demands a lot of their free time. Researchers have discovered that students who work 20 hours a week or more suffer from reduced academic performance. Western works at her job more than the average student, and explains how the balance of her school life and her work life can be difficult to handle. “For school, I have to get up at six, and then I work until 9:45 and I get one hour between school and work. So yeah, it kind of does suck, and I feel like everyone just doesn't care,” Western said.
However, the stress of balancing homework on top of work shifts is not the only problem. Young workers do not have much world experience, and having yet to graduate high school limits the kind of jobs they are qualified for. This leaves most high school students getting hired in customer service establishments, working hands on with people every day. Some customers expect a lot from these types of workers, and the pressure can get intense for younger people who aren’t as accustomed to being treated so harshly. Western explains her reaction when dealing with difficult customers. “Honestly, I've learned to just brush it off, but at the start, it kind of makes you feel bad,” Western said.
Most of these establishments that hire teenage workers are very dependent on how many staff are present. The staff are expected to take over and do what they are told, leading to scheduling inconsistency, with some workers having to stay later than their shift technically ends. “If there's only three servers, [It’s exhausting] and we don't have a dishwasher at the moment, so they just get stacked up. It's just a lot when we're short staffed,” junior Tiffany Morara said.
The stress of jobs in high school can also lead to mental health challenges because employees working hands-on with customers are not always treated with the most respect. The long hours and time management struggles also often contribute to stress for high school employees. “It just kind of makes you more depressed, in a way, unless you're super on top of stuff. But it's kind of hard to be when you have no time,” Western said.
Many students also have many other high expectations around various commitments other than academics. Apart from the school day, many students at BSM are also involved in sports, clubs, service and jobs that also expect high levels of commitment. “I think the school day takes all my brain power, it's a lot of energy to go to work and I'm tired and I'm hungry,” Morara said.
Staff already have a lot to put up with when working in customer service, and the pressure of not being exposed to harsh realities of the high demands of customers can be stressful for younger people. Some have to deal with the level of expectation from this type of job at much younger ages than others do. “I've learned that you have to be really mentally tough in order to work in the restaurant business, especially because people can get really mad at you,” senior Harper Wohlrabe said.
Weighing all of the factors, working high school students still believe that having a job is beneficial to building a strong understanding of how to work effectively early on in life. Having a job in high school can create a higher understanding of the relationship between earnings and education, according to Walden University. Being able to manage a part time job on top of high school, sports, clubs and other commitments can be challenging, but many students believe it will affect them positively in their future careers. “I think I'm getting a foundation right now, not only time management, but also how to work hard,” Wohlrabe said.