Doing a part-time job: good or bad?

Class: U6A   

Name: Cheung Ting (3)

The phenomenon of secondary school students in Hong Kong doing part-time jobs in their free time is becoming common nowadays. You may have had the experience of being served by a teenager in some shops or restaurants like McDonald’s. Both parents and teachers hold the belief that it will affect students’ studies. On the other hand, students are convinced that it is a great opportunity for them to gain experience which is useful in their future. Both groups of people do have their own reasonable opinion. Actually, this topic is worth discussing.

Students who do a part-time job in their free time agree that learning to be an independent individual should be the most noticeable benefit stemming from experience. Hong Kong students are over dependent on others whenever problems crop up. They tend to lack confidence to solve problems on their own, which significantly hinders their personal growth to become mature teenagers. Doing a part-time job, they will no longer have teachers, parents and friends to cling to. No teachers and friends will guide them to finish a job step by step. However, they need to tackle problems they face on their own. Therefore, doing a part-time job is definitely a priceless experience for students, especially for those who rely heavily on their parents.

Another valuable gain is that students can broaden their horizons and understand the hard work their parents have done. Most of the students spend most of their time during their teens at school studying and facing numerous tests and exams. They lack a sense of what the outside world is like. By doing a part-time job, teenagers can at least learn a thing or two from the ‘outside world’. They will experience many things they have never come across in their school life.

All these are invaluable assets to their growth and useful for them in their future. Besides, once they have the experience of doing a job, they can find out what ‘work’ really means and thus, there will be more thanks to and consideration for their parents. They may even try to study harder.

On the other hand, parents and teachers do hold the belief that doing part-time jobs will affect students’ studies. As we all know, it is really hard for teenagers to study very well without spending much time on it.  There are only 24 hours a day, which means that it is just enough for students to finish all their homework, study things that teachers have taught on that day and take a rest. If students do take up part-time jobs, it is understandable that they may not have enough time to study or take a rest. Adding the factors of suffering pressure from their jobs and being tired, this will affect students’ performance at school and their studies.

Besides, some parents are afraid that students may meet in the outside world bad friends who are involved in gambling, smoking or even drug abuse. This is totally harmful to the growth of teenagers. Moreover, parents are concerned about the use of the money students earn. There are lots of fun things and luxury items to spend their money on nowadays. Students may want to buy and enjoy them. Once they lack self-control, they may use up all their income immediately and, finally, they may face financial problems.

Actually, there are both positive and negative aspects of students doing part-time jobs. In my opinion, this is really a valuable experience for students to gain and to widen their horizons. However, the main point that students need to consider is that they should ensure they can strike a balance between their studies and part-time jobs. If not, the negative points will offset the benefits. That is why teenagers must think carefully before they take action!