performance. Neverth

of all juniors and about one-fifth of all scond-year students work above the 20-hour

limit, indications are that a large number of students are at risk of compromising their

school careers with their part-time jobs

A Whereas it is true that more disengaged students are more likely to work long hours to

begin with, it appears that working makes a marginal situation worse. In other words

over time, the more students work, the less committed to school they become. When

students withdraw from the labor force or cut back on their work hours, however, the

results are striking: Their interest in school is generated anew. This then is good news.

The negative effects of working on schooling are not permane

s We uncovered numerous explanations for the undesirable effects of working on

udents engagement in school. First, owing to their demanding work schedule,

working students have less time to devote to school assignments. One common

nse to this time pressure is that they cut corners by taking easier classes, copying

assignments from other students, cutting class, or refusing to do work assigned by their

teachers. Over time, as these become established practices, students' commitment to

school is eroded bit by bit

6 Second, in order to work 20 hours or more each week, many students must work

ings. Evening work interferes not only with doing homework, but with both sleep

and diet. Studies show that work og students get less rest and eat less healthy meals

than non-working students. Bumning the midnight oil makes working teenagers more

tired in school. Teachers frequently complain about working students falling asleep

in class. Nearly a third of the students in our study said they were frequently too tired

from work to do their homework

7 Third, it appears that the excitement of earning large amounts of spending money

makes school seem ess rewarding and interesting. Although mind-wandering during

school s characteristic of young adults, working students report significantly more

ong that

ers. Indeed, the rush from earning and spending money may be

nts who have a history of intensive employment, those who, for

have been working long hours since their second year, are actually at grea

our

ng long hours can be associated with increased alcohol and drug use

use

o that working long hours leads to increased alcohol

ng students. Teenage

monor Play

d to spending their

ngs on drug