High school. A time filled with memories and the primary focus of education. But what about when working a job comes into the equation?

The debate as to whether not a high schooler should try and juggle their schooling with work is weighted on two different points. On one side, you have your whole life to focus on working, but for the latter, working at a younger age can help them develop skills.

Students working builds character and provides an adult aspect to their lives which makes it important. It gives them a real idea on the value of money and how to budget, something that sitting in a classroom can’t really effectively give you.

Now I think working in high school is a great learning opportunity- in moderation. An individual’s first priority in this time period of their life should be their education. That is their number one jobs. When working starts to take a chunk out of your grades and causes an immense amount of unhealthy stress, then it’s time to cut the hours a little back. According to Walden University, researchers have learned that students who work upward of 20 hours a week suffer from reduced academic performance.

Time management is a crucial skill to have in order to achieve a healthy balance. Overall,  in the short term, clocking in to get that money can be a beneficial experience while the long term can do more harm than good.

On a local scale, within our high school a majority of students do not have jobs. From the survey conducted by the YC Journal, 108 of students surveyed did not have jobs and and 61 did have jobs. Out of the students who have jobs they average working 15.5 hours a week. Out of the 61 students who reported having jobs, 48 of those students work and participate in extracurricular activities, 12 students did not. Between extracurriculars, and work, school comes last to most students. However, that should not be the case. In this time of their life, school should be their number one job.