In effect of the great economic challenges that the U.S. is facing, more students are resorting to work for more hours while studying. Some are having a hard time balancing school and night shift working.
Four out of five U.S. students are reportedly working while going to school, as Marketwatch reports. These statistics include those who are in high school, online college, community college, or traditional college or in the universities. Most of these teens have been working around 19 hours a week for the whole school year around 20 years ago. But today, most are nearly working an average of 30 hours a week, as Georgetown University's Center on Education finds.
A study from Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce says that in the past 25 years, there are more than 70 percent of college working students. It has even grown as college enrollment and tuition fees have increased as well.
In New York, the State labor laws regulate the number of hours that minors can work. Students who are 14- and 15-years old are allowed to work for three hours a day on school days and then up to eight hours per day during weekends.
There are studies finding that work can affect the life of teens and significantly draw future destinies. Some of the aspects that are greatly affected are the student's GPA, time of graduation, and earnings. Some even have lifetime effects on health. Most of these students will lack enough sleep and it is very crucial in the brain development of teens.
Teens should be given options to balance everything at work while still excelling in school. GPA or their capacity to absorb lessons should not be compromised. Work should be fun but if it adds up to the stress, what kind of generation will we be raising in the next years to come?
