Teenagers at all times strived to become adults faster, but the current generation has its significant differences. Nowadays, most young students want to become financially independent as soon as possible. This fact sometimes pleases the parents, but more often scares them. It is due to the fact that along with the obvious advantages of working while studying, there are disadvantages that can affect academic performance. With the correct distribution of study and working time and workload in these areas, work at an early age positively affects a person’s personality and further development.
Working from school gives a child an opportunity to gain skills, socialize and take responsibility. In employment, a student of high school is faced with official registration for work, thereby increasing his legal culture, learning a conscious attitude towards his rights and obligations to society and the state. It expands the possibilities for further self-realization of his or her personality. The selection of a job as a teenager is the first step towards a deliberate choice of a future profession; primarily if the child, when choosing, is “guided by his knowledge, skills, abilities, and inclinations. ” (LeFebvre 14) Therefore, it is crucial that the teenager chooses an activity to his liking and not focus on the issue’s monetary side. It is essential that from the standpoint of further life self-determination, the employment of a teenager is a significant event, and in psychological terms – an impetus to the development of awareness, responsibility, and dedication.
An important aspect and advantage for later life and self-determination is the adolescent’s internal motivation, which pushes the student to find a job. A teenager seeks to realize his intellectual and personal potential, to show independence in choosing and planning his responsibilities. In addition, the opportunity to earn money can be motivated to participate in the workforce. Teens develop pride and a sense of freedom from the possession of money. If, for adolescents, finances become a symbol of independence primarily, then with age, adolescents’ ideas about money show a more excellent orientation towards the future. This motivation is the driving force behind the child’s development, which is a positive moment in the teenager’s desire to find a job.
However, assessing the situation with a part-time job for a student, some argue that it distracts from studies more than benefits. As a result of the organism’s characteristics at this age, adolescents often have increased fatigue; clumsiness is observed, associated with the rapid growth of skeletal bones and muscles. Work-related stresses can contribute to decreased alertness and lack of concentration, sleep disturbances, difficulty with appetite, and lead to dire consequences. Work and study create a double burden that a teenager may not handle, and the result can be problems in all areas of life.
To conclude, the money that a student earns can serve to meet the child’s various needs – both economic and non-economic, such as the need for social activity, significance, development, and self-improvement. One can single out the advantages of part-time work: an increase in legal and economic literacy, social activity, motivation to work, and the first steps towards conscious professional and life self-determination. Due to the peculiarities of the adolescent organism, study and work can give a double load, but if to distribute it correctly, it is the way to achieve success.
Reference
LeFebvre, Mary. Working while learning: predictors of working learner status in high school. ACT Research Publications, 2017.