School is already time-consuming on its own, but adding a job to the equation makes many students’ lives busier and more complicated than necessary. 

Many students work after school, often leaving them with little to no time to do homework after their shift. With many teachers giving students homework every night, students can feel stressed which makes their grades drop. Sometimes assigning less school work is the best decision, as it gives students fewer things to worry about.

Teachers should always take into consideration that many students, especially in 11th and 12th grade, work after school and may not have much time to complete homework. Although teachers may try and find a balance, some students may take advantage of the system and never do any work at all.

Along with teachers, students should take responsibility for finding a balance between school and work. Although the simple solution would be not to work at all, many students have to help pay bills or save money for college, so working isn’t much of a choice. Working also keeps many students out of trouble since they have little time to go to detention or do community service. 

For students to find a balance, they must demonstrate maturity by doing as much school work as they can during school, compromising with work and getting home at a reasonable time, and talking to their teacher to figure out what works best for both parties. Having this maturity and being busy does help students prepare for this responsibility when they approach life after high school. As they go into college, school work and having a job will be inevitable for most people.

Many other students aren’t working paid jobs but are in extracurricular activities that require a similar issue of balance as they also have to stay after school and late into the evening. A lot of these activities leave students “working” almost every day. Though they may not be working the same hours as someone with a job, often those activities require a lot more energy to be exerted than a regular job.

During football season, all groups that are involved in the games have to stay late after school almost every day to practice. Although they aren’t working jobs, they dedicate a lot of time outside of school which leaves them with little time to do homework. 

Getting a good amount of sleep every night is also important, but a combination of school, a job, and homework can lead to students losing sleep. While most jobs are good about letting high school students go home at a reasonable time, there are multiple exceptions that don’t let kids out until much later.

Students are going to be busy after school, whether they have a job or something else keeping them occupied, and the start of a solution is all about finding a balance, making communication and growth the best way to handle the busyness in our lives. While homework is a part of getting a good education, students shouldn’t have to choose between getting good grades and having a life outside of school.