How have students’ after-school jobs changed from past generations?

Talk to any student in high school and they will tell you about their many after school activities and heavy workloads that take up most of their time. 

If you ask them about their job experience, most kids will explain the stress of working a job and balancing school.

According to PBS, “Adolescents today perceive parents to be more expectant about academic achievement than past generations. They’re shouldering a more rigorous course load, and expected to under perfectionist expectations.”

In the film Try Harder! A student named Sophia, an extremely independent senior, juggles an ice cream parlor job, works as the school newspaper editor, and captains the tennis team. She works many hours at her job often coming home way too late and having to spend too much time on her rigorous AP classes. 

This lifestyle is not safe and isn’t something we should be forcing on the children of our generation. It’s a common pattern that we see throughout schools all over our nation with the introduction of AP classes.

Oonagh Moore ‘26 said, “I’ve had two jobs during high school. I worked at Hollister and it was stressful cause I felt like I didn’t have enough time to do anything.  Now I work once a week and it’s less stressful for me, I have fewer responsibilities and am able to stay ahead in school.”

With students, we tend to see a correlation between their time spent doing other things outside of school and their success in school. When Students have too much on their plate they can be overwhelmed, and it results in their underperformance in other aspects of their life that are necessary for their futures, such as schoolwork.

The need for money is a big factor in our world now, and it’s a shame that students and kids are being put into positions where they feel the need to work. This is different from the norms of past generations where jobs were generally an alternative to sports. 

I spoke with my father Peter Mazzaccaro about his experience working in high school.  He said, “I quit soccer for the ability to get an after-school job. I was able to do this because colleges didn’t require extracurriculars like they do now. I was able to do what I wanted after school, and they cared more about my in-school contributions.”

According to College Readiness, “The self-imposed pressure to excel in AP courses can lead to overwhelming student stress and heightened academic expectations.”

This is a common experience seen in our school and many around the nation. The overbearing need for perfection in your college application takes over the minds of many students.

According to the BFA Mercury, “Some may argue that jobs aren’t required for teenagers. But there are many things that teens need to earn money for. Many teenagers have cars that they have to pay for the insurance and car payments. Therefore, this often puts teens in a position where they feel the need to get a job to pay for these costs.”

Abington Friends students tended to say they wanted money or needed money when asked why they worked a job. Brandon Green ‘25 said, “We all have to keep up with the expensive things that we want, like clothes and new video games. I feel like teens play a role in their upbringing. It’s a good thing that it helps us learn real-life skills, and we can buy things we may not necessarily need, like a new PS5 or some headphones, but sometimes I feel the need to work and that can stress me out.”

So for students, how do jobs affect your life? Do you feel like you need to work to support yourself? How does stress affect your after school activities, and is the stress worth the money?