An Australian newspaper raises the question of whether high school students should get part-time jobs.  From the Herald Sun:

About 40 per cent of adults do not believe children should combine part-time employment while completing high school, despite experts saying it’s critical to help them learn about money at a young age and prepare for adulthood.

Boost Juice founder and managing director Janine Allis, whose juice bar business now has more than 5000 employees many of whom are teenagers, believes it’s vital that children have a job while at school.

“Having a part-time job teaches kids the value of money and gives them experience in business that will assist them later in life,’’ she said. “I started work at 14, working in a strawberry farm, then worked for Target at 15.’’

Ask your students what other advantages/disadvantages they see from having a part-time job.  What’s great about this question is that you can query the students directly to see what those with part-time jobs think they are learning from this experience as well as any downsides that they experience (e.g., less time with friends, less time for schoolwork, etc.).  It also might be a good opportunity to students to describe how they got their jobs as students are often uncertain how to go about getting a part-time job.

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.