Understanding how jobs can be a benefit and disadvantage to a teen’s daily life is key when deciding whether to have or not to have a job. As mentioned in the previous article, 97% of kids aged 16-22 have jobs according to childtrends.org. What this statistic does not mention, however, is how not all of this 97% of teens are content with their daily lives with a job.

“It’s tiring,” mentioned Andie’s Bounce Barn employee, Kyla Drewry.

Let’s take a look at the benefits and disadvantages of having a job and how it affects the daily life of teenagers.

According to a study by childtrends.org, “Students who work more than twenty hours a week may have low grade point averages and are more likely to drop out of school than those who work fewer hours.”

Many factors that come into play when kids decide to get jobs, one of which being school.

“It’s harder for me to find time on the weekends to do things such as homework,” said Andie’s Bounce Barn employee, Olivia Rua.

Students have a lot less free time, if any at all, when focusing on both school work and a job because they must take both seriously in order to be successful. Staying involved in school activities such as clubs, sports, and events is important for teens, especially since colleges lookat a student’s involvement in school. Unfortunately, many students with jobs have to give up these opportunities which can cause them to be less successful academically once they begin to pull away from the school environment.

“It drains you,” said daycare employee, Caitlyn Donegan, “especially when you work back to back every day like I do.”
Dealing with people is another common challenge students face when having a job. Being around people can have both benefits and disadvantages for teenagers. On one hand, having to tolerate bosses and co-workers that are not always respectful can be hard for teenagers to handle and can eventually lead to them quitting their job. A benefit to working with people that are more difficult is the experience that it gives teenagers.

“It helps to prepare you for life after high school,” said Donegan.

By having people around you that are, for a lack of better words, intolerable, teaches teens how to deal with people and prepare them for the real world ahead where everyone is not kind and generous.

A job has the ability to open up many opportunities to teenagers that benefit their futures and personalities. Aside from having the experience of having the job itself, it educates teens on the expectations of the real world, responsibility, and economic self-sufficiency. According to childtrends.org, “employment can provide valuable experience,” which includes teaching teens organization and time-management skills along with learning to save money for important things such as college.

“Having a job gives me the opportunity to have a job and save money to help pay for college,” said Ami’s Bagel employee Adem Rifati.

All of these factors strongly benefit teenagers and can have a positive effect on their development as people, while at the same time, preparing them for what is to come in just a few years.

Having a job is no joke and definitely has its ups and downs, though it depends on what the teen wants. As long as teens learn how to manage their time in order to successfully balance school and work, the disadvantages of having a job will not be as much of an issue.