Work v' School

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Work v. School

• Making Decisions About Working

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3 four corners activity

• The teacher will read you a statement.
• You will be given a few choices of how you can
  answer the statement.
• When instructed to do so, move to the area of the
  room designated for the answer you chose.

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3 four corners

• PROMPT 1 "Working during the school year helps
  your grades/hurts your grades/doesn't affect your
  grades at all."
• Helps your grades move to the back right corner
  of room
• Hurts your grades move to the back left corner
  of room
• Doesnt affect grades move to the front of the
  room

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What do you think?

• Working during the school year
• Helps your grades how?
• Hurts your grades h how?
• Doesnt affect grades why?

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What are your plans?

• PROMPT 2 My plans for working are as follows
• I am working now move to the back left corner of
  the room.
• I am not working and dont plan to work soon
  move to the back right corner of the room.
• I am not working now, but plan to get a job soon
  move to the front of the room.

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What are your plans?

• I am working now where and doing what? And how
  often?
• I am not working and dont plan to work soon
  why?
• I am not working now, but plan to get a job soon
  where or doing what? And how often?

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QUICK FACTS ABOUT YOU WORK

• 1. Older students (17-18) who work more than 20
  hours a week AND
• Younger students (14-16) who work more than 15
  hours a week are more likely to
• Have a lower GPA
• Be late for school
• Be absent from school
• Sleep in class
• Use drugs, including tobacco or alcohol
• Drop out of school 1

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QUICK FACTS ABOUT YOU WORK

• 2. Students who work more than 30 hours a week
  are very likely to drop out of school.2
• 3. Students who work 1-10 hours a week sometimes
  show slightly better performance in the above
  areas than nonworkers.1

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QUICK FACTS ABOUT YOU WORK

• 4. Students who get a car often show a
  significant drop in completing school work and
  school attendance.
• Dont get caught in the car-work trap, shown
  below.

I need to work (more) to keep my
car(repairs, insurance, gas, car note).
I need a car to get to work
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Child Labor Laws

• Open your brochure or go to http//myflorida.com/d
  bpr/os/documents/ChildLaborBrochure.pdf).
• Look at Work Hours for Teens table.
• Look at Hazardous Limitations.

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Answer these questions

• How many hours should a student be allowed to
  work in a week?
• Should certain time of night or day be off-limits
  for working students?
• Identify some types of work that are too
  hazardous/inappropriate for minors.

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Balancing Work School

• Develop a master schedule
• and a weekly schedule
• to help you plan your work hours.

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Basic scheduling tips

• include travel time to and from work so you dont
  stress your schedule,
• look at the big picture (remember school and
  sleep and life)
• ask for time off for upcoming events like final
  exams, etc.

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WARNING SIGNS THAT WORK IS TAKING OVER

• In School
• Late to class
• Missing class
• Sleeping in class
• Assignments getting completed later than usual or
  not at all
• Increased thoughts of dropping out of school

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WARNING SIGNS THAT WORK IS TAKING OVER

• Outside School
• Arguments with teachers, friends, parents, others
• Irritable with family, friends, customers
• Resentful of work
• Finding it hard to say no when boss asks you to
  work more hours
• Increase in work hours
• Hiding/lying about hours worked to
  parents/teachers/friends

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More warning signs

• Not getting enough sleep
• Falling asleep when driving/relaxing/doing other
  things
• Thoughts of taking medications to sleep/stay
  awake
• Feeling tired all the time
• Increase in caffeine intake
  (coffee, Mountain Dew, energy drinks)

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Still more warning signs

• No time for friends and other enjoyable
  activities
• Not having time for personal care/cleanliness
• Increase in stress behaviors (nail-biting,
  fidgeting, stress eating, tension in body, etc.) 

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In a nutshell

• Understand that working while going to high
  school presents some benefits, but some
  significant problems.
• It is easy to lose your focus and make the job
  more important than preparing for your life after
  school.

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For more information check out the following
websites

• www.facts.org
• www.prephq.com