Teens today are more stressed than ever before. There are many aspects of everyday life that place stress on teens. According to the University of Virginia, “High school students are working more than 20 hours a week during the school year experienced declines in school engagement and increases in substance abuse and delinquency.”
Students are taking the role of adding more and more to their everyday schedule. Now, as if school weren’t already enough of a job for kids, they’ve added working to the mix. Going to school for seven hours a day and then working anywhere from three to eight hours even after that take a toll. Michael Cantor, junior, says, “I find that the more hours I get, the harder it is to stay updated with school.” According to the minor labor laws, the only restrictions on 16-year-olds are that they must work under 40 hours a week and they can’t work more than eight hours in a day.
In addition to the work, many times they also participate in sports, which adds to the already busy schedule. Parents seem to think kids should have every minute planned to keep them out of trouble, but oftentimes, this backfires because the stress just gets to be too much. Add to this that school is harder than ever before and most students who work also take college prep courses, have several hours of homework even after getting home from work at 10 or 11 pm.
At 16, a student should be getting a minimum of nine hours of sleep a night, but this rarely happens because of the busy schedule with school, homework, work, and possibly even sports. MedicineNet.com states that about 15 percent of teens get the necesarry eight hours of sleep each night. This lack of sleep leads to lower performance in school and even in sports and on the job, as well as, causing depression and anxiety. More teens are taking antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication than ever before, which is not without its own risks.
Obviously, only a small percentage of the students who push themselves to this level reach this kind of breaking point, but even that is too many. Being so busy and so overwhelmed with major responsibilities at such a young age is just a recipe for disaster. But, even though this busy schedule seems almost impossible to juggle, there are compromises students can take to assure that their school performance will not be altered.
As for remedies, most of these come with common sense, but sometimes it takes really seeing how trying to balance the both before seeking advice. Several reports and guides say to take your workload into account before limiting hours and assignments. The “10 hour rule” is a smart guide to follow for academic success while working. This consists of only working 10 hours a week, while most of those hours being on the weekend. School should always take priority over work. Also, if step one was not followed, some students find themselves taking on too many hours and feel as if their grades are slowly spiraling downwards. Talk to bosses, teachers, etc. Teachers/bosses are human, and they understand the struggle of taking on too much responsibility. In most cases they are willing to work with employees/students to figure out the best plan for that individual.
Thinkprogress.org says that 80 percent of high school students also have a job, thus confirming that while it is very hard to juggle schooling and a job, it is possible and there are articles like these and tips to plan accordingly.
Like most humans, we find ourselves rushing into things and getting up to our head in problems. In the future when deciding to take on another major role in life, think about all the stuff that comes with it and plan for it. Planning is a major key to success.
Brandon Spaulding
Reporter
Students are taking the role of adding more and more to their everyday schedule. Now, as if school weren’t already enough of a job for kids, they’ve added working to the mix. Going to school for seven hours a day and then working anywhere from three to eight hours even after that take a toll. Michael Cantor, junior, says, “I find that the more hours I get, the harder it is to stay updated with school.” According to the minor labor laws, the only restrictions on 16-year-olds are that they must work under 40 hours a week and they can’t work more than eight hours in a day.
In addition to the work, many times they also participate in sports, which adds to the already busy schedule. Parents seem to think kids should have every minute planned to keep them out of trouble, but oftentimes, this backfires because the stress just gets to be too much. Add to this that school is harder than ever before and most students who work also take college prep courses, have several hours of homework even after getting home from work at 10 or 11 pm.
At 16, a student should be getting a minimum of nine hours of sleep a night, but this rarely happens because of the busy schedule with school, homework, work, and possibly even sports. MedicineNet.com states that about 15 percent of teens get the necesarry eight hours of sleep each night. This lack of sleep leads to lower performance in school and even in sports and on the job, as well as, causing depression and anxiety. More teens are taking antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication than ever before, which is not without its own risks.
Obviously, only a small percentage of the students who push themselves to this level reach this kind of breaking point, but even that is too many. Being so busy and so overwhelmed with major responsibilities at such a young age is just a recipe for disaster. But, even though this busy schedule seems almost impossible to juggle, there are compromises students can take to assure that their school performance will not be altered.
As for remedies, most of these come with common sense, but sometimes it takes really seeing how trying to balance the both before seeking advice. Several reports and guides say to take your workload into account before limiting hours and assignments. The “10 hour rule” is a smart guide to follow for academic success while working. This consists of only working 10 hours a week, while most of those hours being on the weekend. School should always take priority over work. Also, if step one was not followed, some students find themselves taking on too many hours and feel as if their grades are slowly spiraling downwards. Talk to bosses, teachers, etc. Teachers/bosses are human, and they understand the struggle of taking on too much responsibility. In most cases they are willing to work with employees/students to figure out the best plan for that individual.
Thinkprogress.org says that 80 percent of high school students also have a job, thus confirming that while it is very hard to juggle schooling and a job, it is possible and there are articles like these and tips to plan accordingly.
Like most humans, we find ourselves rushing into things and getting up to our head in problems. In the future when deciding to take on another major role in life, think about all the stuff that comes with it and plan for it. Planning is a major key to success.
Brandon Spaulding
Reporter