Adolescence is a unique and questionable period of life. Children are old enough to be able to earn money on their own, and yet they are young enough to still be in the care of their parents or guardians. Teenagers find themselves finding jobs after school for many reasons. Normal reasons include: spending money to go out with friends, money for gas, or to be able to get newly released technology. After-school jobs appear to help teens gain responsibility and appreciate the value of hard work and the money that comes with it. After school jobs can cause more problems than most people realize. These jobs take away much of the time that these adolescents should be spending on their studies, their academic performance declines and it exhausts them physically and mentally. The only way an extracurricular job will be useful to a maturing young adult is if it is measured correctly. As an adult, you need money for almost everything. It is necessary for food, clothing, shelter and everyone's favorite leisure activities. High school is a crucial time in a child's life. This is where the child begins to slowly become independent of their caregiver and finally begins to realize who they really are. Adolescents spend the majority of their time in a school-like environment, normally around eight hours a day. Likewise, adults normally spend eight hours a day at work, or normally forty hours a week. This school setting for these adolescents is their work, they spend the same time as adults at work, at school. These teens are already working full-time, with a few extra hours added whenever they're given homework, or when they're in the middle of writing, school, and college. Their success in high school will depend on where they can attend college, which will ultimately affect their success in the real world. There is a fine line as to how much work a student should work on in a school year. To succeed, you must get as close to this line as possible, without crossing it. Works Cited ASCD. Dan Laitsch “The Effect of Employment on Student Achievement in High School and Beyond.” Research Summary (2005): NPDundes, L. and Marx, J. (2006). Balancing Work and College: Why Do Students Working 1,019 Hours a Week Excel? Journal of College Student Retention, 8(1) 107120. Hammond, Shawn. “Effects of Employment on Student Achievement.” Provo: BYU Employment Services, December 2006. 1-4. “Adolescents and after-school jobs.” Health Encyclopedia. University of Rochester Medical Center. and web.