Adults are not the only ones being burdened by this poor economy. College is way expensive, gas prices continue to skyrocket, and other basic needs prices are on the rise. Parents/ Guardians are probably finding it increasingly difficult to afford all of these things. If they are unable to, then who will?

Students are getting older and are beginning to take matters into their own hands. Sure, paying for their own wants and needs is all a part of growing up. However, is the stress of balancing work and school taking its toll?

“They have a lot of pressure with doing well in school and doing well at work. Keeping their bosses happy and keeping their teachers happy,” said Kim Parker, senior language arts teacher.

Parker notices that students with jobs are tired, they have a tough time getting work completed on time and they do not really seem to have a balance.

“I wrote my own schedule not knowing it would be too much,” Said Amber Fraley, Junior.

According to Fraley, the most difficult part about a having a job is that it is everyday after school and that makes keeping up with schoolwork a challenge.

Junior and Senior year seems to be the typical time when getting a job is desired. Students are at the age where they are getting cars, thinking about their futures or just want to start taking responsibility for their lives so they can buy the things they’ve always wanted.

“I think it’s worth it to have extra money, even if I’m tired when I get home and don’t want to do my homework,” Said Kailee Clinton, Senior.

Clinton works 20 hours a week at Kumon which is a tutoring place for math and reading. She has an understanding boss who knows that school needs to come first.

“Most of the employees there are high school students and most of us are AP students so she knows how demanding it can be,” Said Clinton.

Surprisingly, Clinton’s boss is not the only accepting one.

Senior Brock Gonzales works full time at Humble Pie and he says that although his boss is very strict about the way things get done he is rather flexible when it comes to schedules.

“He’ll let us leave early at 9 o’clock if we need to,” Said Gonzales.

Jim Crowley is the boss at Little Caesars Pizza. He only hires students if they are 18 years old and usually will only hire four or five high school students at a time. The reason being that there are a lot of special events such as dances and games associated with high schoolers.

Crowley makes sure to ask about high school employee’s grades because he sees school as being more important than a job. He only lets students work about five hours a night to make sure they can keep up with schoolwork.

Before quitting her job at Harkins Movie Theatre, Junior Annie Behrendt also had a flexible boss. Behrendt said that she did not quit her job because of a strict boss, but because she felt bad that she was becoming less available for work. She became less available because she had to focus more on school, track and her other various weekend activities.

“I don’t know why I quit, just started dreading it because I had too much going on,” Said Behrednt.

Maybe having a job can be burdensome and difficult, but it also has great benefits and teaches students new skills.

Fraley says that having a job is nice because she is in a good work environment and she gets to work with people from school. Her social skills have improved because she gets to talk to new people everyday.

“I used to be nervous talking in front of people, but it’s made me more confident,” Said Fraley.

Having a job has taught Gonzales how to be more responsible with money.

Clinton likes having a job because she has extra money to spend while also putting some away for college. Some skills she has learned are punctuality, responsibility and how to deal with annoying people.

Parker thinks that having a job while in high school benefits students because it teaches them responsibility, how to work with people they don’t like, interact with the public, solve problems and solve them  quickly, manage time and coordinate a schedule.

“I’m on the fence. I think school is their job, that should be number one, but if they do have jobs, they shouldn’t work over 20 hours. They should have fun, do school events, be involved in clubs and activities,” Parker said.