Should kids have jobs?

[content_protector password=”pavlova17″]To be free, or to be an employee?

That is the question, for school students at least. You’ve been thinking for a while now that your weekly pocket money isn’t nearly enough to save for a new phone before Christmas and you’ve just reached the age where potential employers will consider your CV seriously. However, at the same time, your school workload seems to have doubled overnight. You barely have enough time to do your homework and assignments, play sport, keep mum happy and keep up your extra-curricular activities as it is, how could you possibly be expected to throw a job into the mix?

So the question is, should school students have a part time job?

The perks of having a job go far beyond the pay cheque. While the extra money is a huge bonus, at the end of the day – if you earn it, you spend it and soon you forget that you ever lived without it. Spending money alone is not enough to keep you satisfied. So this is where the real benefits of employment, such as Budgeting, Time Management and Experience come in.

Money that you earn in your school years can be extremely helpful in the future – even putting away $20 a week in the two years before leaving school will see you save over $2,000. Not only will your friends be jealous of the spending money you have at school, they’ll be jealous of your student loan that isn’t as ridiculous as theirs later on in life! Earning your own money also helps you learn how to spend it wisely. You’re likely to throw less money away and instead save up for something worthwhile, like your own car.

However, it can seem like there are not enough hours in the day for a job, and this is often the worry for parents, who are stressed enough as it is trying to get their children to complete their homework in time as it is. But here is the thing, having less free time does not mean you do not have enough free time. To work a couple of hours a week, all you would have to do would be to stop watching The Bachelor! By measuring out your time, you will become better at planning, meeting deadlines and weighing your priorities.

Finally, experience. Working a job as a student will allow you to develop important employment skills to look more impressive to potential employers. You will have some kind of work experience on your resume, and the fact that you’ve been able to hold a job while at school attests to your level of maturity, responsibility and time management. Employers look for employees who understand the work environment and works well as part of a team. Be careful though, some businesses look to hire teenagers below the age of 16 so that they are not required to pay them minimum wage. While your weekly pay cheque will most likely still be more than your pocket money, it’s worth being aware of this in advance!

So there you have it, to be free or to be an employee? Perhaps, if you manage it wisely and save some of your pay, having a student job can mean having both after all.

Article written by Hannah Skelton
Critical Thinking Challenges:
1. What different perks and downfalls can you think of for having a job as a school student? Do you think students should have a part-time job at all?
2. What would be the optimum number of hour to work per week and what would be the best place to work?
3. How could both teachers and employers ensure they were not overwhelming their student/employee with too much work, without compromising their ability to get their school work and job done well?

Practical Tasks:
1. Ask your parents if you can do extra jobs around the house one week for extra pocket money. See if it affects aspects of your life positively or negatively, particularly your ability to get school work done.
2. Write down a savings plan for University and detail how you are going to ensure you reach in by the time you graduate high school? Will you need a proper job to achieve this?
3. Ask your parents when they began to work and what benefits they reaped when they did? Decide if you think you will have a similar experience?

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