There are students who walk among us who are tired from the night before. They are exhausted. They might’ve had fun but they might have asked themselves if it was even worth it throughout the entire night. What were they doing exactly? Probably not the first thought that crossed your mind.They aren’t partying with friends or spending the night watching movies. They’re working to pay for college, a car, or just to support their family.

According to the Marketwatch website, 80% of students from the age of 16 to 18 years old have a part-time job. That means that four out of five students have a part-time job. Also, according to Newsok, 1% of students have a full-time job. That’s a lot of students working.

The average high school student works 15-20+ hours a week , according to Marketwatch, depending on where they work. Imagine having to wake up early to go to school and probably not be home until ten or eleven o’clock at night. What about time for homework and/or leisure time? Good luck finding time without losing sleep. Sleep is needed for doing daily tasks so there’s no way around it.

A job requires a lot of responsibility, integrity, and effort. There’s another thing that takes the same amount of responsibility, integrity, and effort and it’s known by all students. The dreaded ‘H’ word. That’s right, homework. Homework takes a lot of time and is often worth a lot of points towards a grade. It also helps with practicing a certain subject. Grades are really important because they decide what the future will be. They decide what colleges are available to attend and what jobs are available.  Grades are essential.

Having a job and having homework is a bad combination. Bring on the stress factor. Arianna Faamausili, a junior, understands this.

Faamausili said, “I’m getting home late and I’m having to do homework later and getting sleep. I feel sleepless and homework adds on. I had to quit my job.”

Many students are having to organize their priorities really early. Deciding whether or not that you should go to school when sick is hard enough. Having to choose between supporting a family and letting grades fall takes the cake. An education is well worth it but having a job teaches a lot of great aspects that are needed for adulthood.

Andrew Hofeling, also a junior, said, “ To be honest, it depends on how many hours you work. It’s easy if you only work 2-3 hours,” It’s hard to prioritize your responsibilities with having to go to work and school nonetheless.

Hofeling said, “If I had to work lot of hours, I would struggle. I wouldn’t have time to do homework and probably would end up spending the night working on work.”

Students are struggling with their grades. Education is more important but others are saying the job life is more important because it teaches you more about the reality of things. Having on education is what the future depends on. Drop-out rates are at an all-time high. According to Dosomething, over 1.2 million students drop out of high school. That’s having a student drop out every 26 seconds. Students are having to make the hardest decision of their lives. The decision almost always ending up being to drop out and keep a full time job. They may feel this way because it may be their only option.

There’s that student in the corner, huddled by themselves and nodding off during class, who probably spent the previous night working and then staying up to do homework. It’s not fun and it’s hard on them. The question is: what can we do? Grades are falling, friendships are turning sour, life at home is getting intense. The least we can do is have patience and hope for the best. Give them encouragement when needed and be a friend. It would be appreciated.