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Working and Learning By Darrien Martin
These days it is not uncommon for a student to have a part time job. With rising costs for insurance and gas, it’s becoming harder and harder for parents to pay for those things and allow their kids to focus on school. Here at CHS, a number of students have after school or weekend jobs, jobs that often lead to long shifts and less time each week for homework or studying.
These days it is not uncommon for a student to have a part time job. With rising costs for insurance and gas, it’s becoming harder and harder for parents to pay for those things and allow their kids to focus on school. Here at CHS, a number of students have after school or weekend jobs, jobs that often lead to long shifts and less time each week for homework or studying.
According to research done by Georgetown University, 70 to 80 percent of students work part time while going to school full time, making up almost 10 percent of America’s overall labor force. This is not a new trend among students. Since the 1970’s the percentage of students working part or full time has been on a steady rise. About a quarter of students who are working are working full time. The amount of students that are working while attending classes are not the concern though, it’s the amount of time they are working and how that might affect their grades.
Working in a fast food chain is a great starting job for a high school student, but without a plan or set times and days in the week to study, things can get out of hand pretty quickly. Working three to four days during the school week can add a lot of stress to a student.
At Coventry High School, school is let out at 1:55 in the afternoon. If a student starts a shift at three, it does not give them enough time to go home and get their homework done. If they working a six hour shift, they will not get out till at least nine.
At this point, the student is tired and does not want to go home to sit at their kitchen table or desk and attempt to complete several classes worth of homework for at least an hour or two. A student who is staying up till close to midnight to complete their homework almost every night is not going to be an effective student the next day in class. But if they choose to just go to bed and not do their homework, their grades will be severely impacted.
According to CHS senior Margaret Johnson, “after getting a job at Mcdonalds I have seen my grades drop from straight A’s to B’s and C’s.” Margaret works about 20 hours a week at McDonalds, not including when she is asked to cover for a friend. She did not say that it was impossible to balance having a part time job and going to high school, but she did note that it is very difficult. Her biggest tip to her fellow classmates is to take advantage of every free moment to study or do your homework. Get work done before or after classes, before your shift at work starts, or even during your break.
Krista Swedits, another senior at CHS, stated, “ I usually work from about 4 pm- 10:30 pm at Dunkin Donuts. Because of this, when I get home from school, I have a quick meal and head straight to work because it is a twenty minute drive. Usually, I do not get home from work till about 11pm. Once I get home, I head straight to bed from being so tired from working. I used to be an A and B student, and now I am barely passing my classes.”
These two students only show a small part of a bigger problem. This is not just a few kids who can not properly balance their time. It is a lot of students who are struggling to keep their grades up while also trying to earn the money they need to pay their bills, save for a car, or go to college.
Krista Swedits stated, “Before I had a job I had all the time in the world to study and that is why I got such good grades. But when I got a job senior year, it was hard to balance work and being in two AP classes and two honors classes, my grades plummeted and so did my GPA.”
Ultimately, it is very difficult to balance schoolwork and a job. Here are some tips from the College Board: