Adolescence is a very difficult period and is known as the age of transition between childhood and adulthood. During this period, teens develop into mature, productive and responsible citizens of our country. And a job can help them in the development of their identities, abilities, work experience, achievement of new accomplishments, increase in autonomy and also help them to become economically independent.
In the United States, more than 50% of teenagers are involved in part-time jobs. There are many reaches made in this controversy whether adolescent employment is beneficial or harmful. During this period, teenagers live in fantasies, they love to buy, dresses, video games, and all other desirables which sometimes become stressful for the parents. And due to this, they want to earn money of their own. Like all their employments, this too has benefits as well as drawbacks. Here, in this article, I have focused on all the possible benefits and drawbacks of part-time employment for teenagers, however, there are not many job opportunities for them.
BENEFITS OF ADOLESCENCE EMPLOYMENT:
- They can obtain valuable work experiences, which are excellent for their resume.
- They will learn to effectively manage finances and value money. Even if, they use their earnings for their expenses, they will be able to manage the budgets.
- They will gain useful marketable skills like improvement in communication, learning how to handle people, developing interview skills and filling out their job applications.
- This employment may provide them with networking possibilities that will help them to get a rewarding career path.
- They will form good work habits. They will learn to behave professionally.
- They will be able to instil new confidence, a sense of responsibility and independence.
- You can make constructive use of your free time. An after-school job will provide you with adult supervision. Employment provides less time to engage in risky behaviours for teens.
- You will learn time management skills.
DRAWBACKS OF ADOLESCENT EMPLOYMENT:
- There will be higher rates of absenteeism and less school involvement. These may place constraints on the students’ study and sleep time. This may lead to fatigue or lack of preparation for the day’s academic activities that may discourage teens from going to school and the job may take place of the extracurricular activities.
- They will get lower grades in school. Students who devote more than 20 hours a week to work will have lower grades than other students who devote maximum time to studies.
Know Your Best Careers Take Psychometric Test
- They will not get any time to completing homework.
- They are more likely to use drugs and alcohol. Research suggests that substance abuse is higher for students who work more than 20 hours a week.
- They will develop negative views of work itself. Early entry into a negative work environment will encourage negative views of work. This will solely depend on the type of job and the maturity level of the teenagers.
- They may suffer from anxiety and stress. Balancing both work and school can prove to be too much hectic for any student.
It is proved that students who work for less than 10 hours a week will gain the benefits of employment and students who work more than 20 hours per week will suffer from the negative consequences of employment. Summer employment is an excellent alternative in this case, as it does not interfere with schooling and provides teens with constructive use of their free time. This will allow teenagers to garner all the benefits of employment without overtaxing their busy school schedules. Teens can do a lot of works namely: landscaping, camp counselling, content writing etc.
Parents should be well aware of their wards employment and help them in establishing a balance between work and studies.
By- Sanchayita Chattopadhyay
