By Isabella Mikula, Ethan Klemp, and Evan Misner
After a long eight-hour day at school and an eight-hour shift at Sierra Trading Post, Ryan Larson finally comes home. It’s 10:30 at night and Larson has a lot of assignments in Math, English, and Science due in the morning. He doesn’t get to bed until two in the morning. He wakes up, with bloodshot eyes from working so late and doing homework and slowly trudges his way to the high school.
Kids in high school have many activities going on whether it’s an extracurricular, a club, a sport, or a part-time job. Having a part-time job can affect students grades overall depending on where they work and how long they work. A survey was sent out to collect some data about how long students work and if they think working affects their grades. 75 percent of students at BHS either currently have a job.
There are many different responses from the students in the survey. Out of the random 24 students who respond to the survey only six of them didn’t have a job. Using 18 of the responses only half of them worked 15-20 hours per week. Five responses worked 10-15 hours per week. Then there were three responses where people worked 25-30 hours per week. There was only one response saying 5-10 hours per week.
Out of the 18 people that are working, most of them work 15-20 hours weeks which can be a lot for a student especially if they have a lot of homework. They are more likely to get home late and stay up late.
“A couple of nights ago I didn’t sleep at all because I had so much homework,” said junior Zoe Bassett, who works at Chik-fil-a. “The next day, I had to go home because I needed to focus on my studies. Normally if I close, I go to bed around 12 or later.”
According to recent Sleep in Adolescents studies by Nationwide Children’s, the healthy amount of time for any teenaged student to sleep should be around nine to nine and a half hours a night, which in this case the lack of sleep makes the students tired and unsuccessful throughout their day. With long hours throughout the day, it is affecting their school day and academic success.
“When I’m working or even on break I can’t do my homework,” said junior Riley Almy, who works at Funway. “And if I don’t get good grades by the end of the second semester, I might have to quit my job.”
Having time for homework on school nights is difficult for people when they get home at 11 o‘clock. Batavia High School gets out at 2:30 and most jobs for high schoolers start around four or five..
“I have time to do homework if I want to do it,” said senior Scott Stellmach, who works at Oberwise. “ I do my homework and I go to bed at the same time of midnight.”
As a high schooler, money is a necessity and the way to make money is working.
“I work because I want to have money not because I am being forced to,” Stellmach said.
Depending on parents and what they want out of their children, some high schoolers are forced to work and some want to work based off of preference.
“I like working and I don’t mind it but my parents kept asking me to get a job,” said senior Alania Roesler, who works at Dunkin’ Donuts. “My parents also told me if I’m not passing any classes that I have to quit my job.”
It’s not unusual for parents to nag students about getting jobs but between keeping good grades and studying finding time to do these things will become a lot harder.
Some students are able to get home on time and take some time to study.
“I mean, I do believe that jobs affect grades. I work three to four days a week with six-hour shifts and I still find time to study,” said senior Byron Peters, who works at Sierra Trading Post.
Studying is a key thing to a student’s success. Students decide whether or not to make time to study before they leave for work or stress-study late at night. Having a job while in school can be a good taste of what college will be like after they graduate.
Students have many things to purchase with the money they earn. Some parents want their kids to buy their own car, parking spot, or gas. A parking spot at the high school is necessary for seniors at BHS, unless you want to park a mile away and walk in the cold on Millview. Since some of the students are sleep deprived from work and homework, they will not get a decent parking spot. They end up getting there 30 minutes earlier which is hard for the students that get to bed at midnight. Being tired throughout the school day, especially if the student works late, puts the student in a grumpy mood throughout their day.
“All in all, I think having a job is beneficial to students but honestly it takes up too much time. If I didn’t have a job I would be studying more and I won’t be sleeping during math class.”