The holidays are near and businesses around town are already gearing up for the escalation of traffic that is expected at this time of the year. For many high school students, that also means one other thing: working more hours. As the amount of time that school requires of students has increased over the years due to homework, clubs, and sports, a question often arises as to whether or not school should be a student’s only focus. The Bell Staff drew from personal experiences and conversations with adults in the building and the vote was an overwhelming no, jobs can be just as important as school.

A common thought amongst the staff is that jobs are important for teaching students responsibility as well as time management. College can be extremely demanding, and so learning these skills early on can be very beneficial for the future, when they are almost always required. Jobs during high school help students learn how to balance homework, club activities, sports, and work in the limited timeframe they have in the week.

On the other hand, some feel that jobs are too demanding of students. The staff discussed the difficulty of working late hours with some students, and learned that many do not get home until 10:00 or even 11:00 on a school night and then have to do an hour or more of homework, especially when they are in college and AP classes. Due to the fact that some workplaces have difficulty scheduling students around school hours and activities, the staff feels that if a student is scheduled to work ridiculous hours they should find a different job or quit altogether.

Some students solve the issue of getting home late from work by only working on weekends. That way, they can dedicate school nights to sports and homework. Other students prefer working only during the school week because they have family activities or plans with friends on the weekends. Working during the week means they also have more spending money for the weekends.

Staff members felt that jobs are important – and sometimes necessary -because many students have to purchase a car, gas, insurance, clothes, food, and luxuries themselves. Some parents pay for these things for their students so that they can concentrate on sports, since sports are what they want to pursue in college and may pave way for scholarships. However, other students are required to have a job so they can learn how to be financially responsible and independent.

Overall, staff members agreed that school and jobs are both time and energy demanding and that jobs can sometimes contribute to a student’s stress; however, the benefits of having a job outweighed the negatives and the majority of the staff voted that school should not be a student’s only job.