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To work or not to work That is the question 1 There are numerous and reliable ways by which one can measure the impact of employment on student achievement and we used several in our research. We compared the grades of students who work a great deal with those who work in limited amounts or not at all. We also contrasted workers with non-workers on different indicators of their commitment to education. Additionally we followed students over time as they increased or decreased their work hours and we assessed how different patterns of employment altered school performance and engagement. 2 We have simplified and classified the data and the results are clear: The stakes are high. A heavy commitment to a part-time job during the academic year say working 20 hours per week or more undermines and significantly interferes with school achievement and commitment. Overall our study offers proof that students who worked more than 20 hours weekly were not comparable to their classmates. They earned lower grades spent less time on homework cut class more often and cheated more frequently. And they reported lower levels of commitment to school and more modest educational aspirations. 3 On the other hand we also detected a different pattern. Working for approximately 10 hours per week or less seemingly does not take a consistent toll on school performance. Nevertheless given that half of all employed seniors about one-third of all juniors and about one-fifth of all second-year students work above the 20-hourlimit indications are that a large number of students are at risk of compromising their school careers with their part-time jobs. 4 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 permanent. 5 We uncovered numerous explanations for the undesirable effects of working on students' engagement in school. First owing to their demanding work schedule working students have less time to devote to school assignments. One common response 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 evenings. Evening work interferes not only with doing homework but with both sleep and diet. Studies show that working students get less rest and eat less healthy meals than non-working students. Burning 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 less rewarding and interesting. Although mind-wandering during school is characteristic of young adults working students report significantly more of it than non-workers. Indeed the rush from earning and spending money may be so strong that students who have a history of intensive employment those who for example have been working long hours since their second year are actually at greater risk than their classmates of dropping out before graduating. 8 Finally working long hours can be associated with increased alcohol and drug use. Working students use drugs and alcohol about 33% more often than non-working students. Our long-term study shows that working long hours leads to increased alcohol and drug use for entertainment and recreation among working students. Teenagers with between $200 and $300 of monthly surplus income frequently have more money to spend than their peers and often they become accustomed to spending their earnings on drugs and alcohol. According to our study alcohol and drug use in turn may be linked to disengagement from school and therefore is likely to depress school performance. 9 To summarize convention has long held that early employment builds character. Our findings indicate that for many students working 20 hours or more a week can contribute to decreased school performance and increased drug and alcohol use. We know that these findings may seem controversial to many. To our own surprise our findings make us question how long we have held on to the conventional assumptions about the great value of work in our formative years. It's time to abandon this appealing myth! We conclude that students should resolve to work no more than 10 hours per week if they want to be successful in school. 打工还是不打工——这是个问题 要衡量工作经历对学生成就的影响有许多可靠的方法。在我们的研究中，我们采用了几种方法。我们比较了打很多工的学生和打工时间有限或者根本不打工的学生的学习成绩。我们也对比了打工学生和不打工学生在学习投入程度方面的不同指征。另外，我们长期跟踪学生，了解他们在打工时间增加或减少时的表现。而且，我们还评估了不同的打工模式如何改变学习成绩和学习参与度。 我们把数据加以简化和归类，得出的结论很明确：学生打工付出的代价很大。在学年中花过多精力兼职打工，比如，一周打工20个小时或更长时间，会影响和严重干扰学习成绩和学习投入程度。总的来说，我们的研究证明，每周打工超过20个小时的学生学习成绩不及班上其他同学。他们的分数更低，花在作业上的时间更少，逃课更频繁，作弊更常见。而且据反映，他们的学习投入程度较低，学习志向也不够远大。 但是，我们也发现了另外一种不同的模式。每周打工大约10个小时或更少的时间对学习成绩似乎没有持续的影响。不过，鉴于一半的大四打工学生、约三分之一的大三打工学生以及约五分之一的大二打工学生的打工时间都超过20个小时的上限，由此表明，有很多学生面临因打工而危及学业的风险。 虽说一开始确实是学习兴趣不大的学生更容易长时间地打工，但是打工看起来会让他们原本勉强的学习状况变得更糟。换言之，随着时间的推移，学生打工时间越长，他们对学习的投入就越少。但是，当学生退出打工队伍或者减少打工时间后，结果也引人注目：他们对学习的兴趣被重新激发起来。所以，这是个好消息，即打工对学习的负面影响并非是永久性的。 我们发现了打工对学生学习参与度产生负面影响的很多种原因。首先，由于紧张的打工日程，打工的学生用来完成学校作业的时间就减少了。面临这样的时间压力，打工学生一个普遍的应付办法就是偷懒，比如选择较容易的课程、抄袭其他学生的作业、逃课或者不做老师布置的作业。时间一长，当这些变成习以为常的做法以后，学生对学习的投入也就一点一点地减少。 第二，为了每周能打工20个小时或更长时间，许多学生必须要在晚上工作。晚上工作不仅影响做作业，而且影响睡眠和饮食。研究表明，与不打工的学生相比，打工学生的休息时间更少，饮食也不够健康。熬夜让打工的青少年在学校时感觉更疲倦。老师们经常抱怨打工学生在课堂上睡觉。在我们的调查中，将近三分之一的学生说，他们经常因打工太累而不做作业。 第三，挣到数量可观的零花钱所带来的兴奋感似乎让上学显得没意义和乏味。虽说在学校学习时心不在焉是年轻人的通病，但是据反映，打工的学生比不打工的学生在这方面表现得更为糟糕。事实上，赚钱和花钱带来的快感也许过于强烈，以至于有长时间打工史的学生，比如从大二开始就长时间打工的学生，实际上比其他同学面临更大的辍学风险。 最后，长时间打工与饮酒和吸毒的增多有关。打工的学生吸毒和饮酒的概率比不打工的学生要高出大约33%。我们的长期研究显示，长时间打工导致打工的学生更多地饮酒和吸毒，他们借此来娱乐和消遣。每月多收入200至300美元的青少年通常比其他同学有更多的零花钱，而且他们也常常习惯于把自己赚来的钱花在吸毒和饮酒上。我们的研究表明，饮酒和吸毒相应地可能造成学习兴趣减弱，因此很可能导致学习成绩下降。 总而言之，长期以来的传统观念一直认为，早期的工作经历能锤炼性格。而我们的研究结果表明，对于许多学生而言，每周打工20个小时或更多时间会导致学习成绩的下滑以及吸毒和饮酒的增多。我们知道这些研究结果可能在许多人看来是有争议的。令我们感到惊讶的是，我们的研究结果促使我们质疑，为何长久以来我们一直坚守着那种打工有利于我们成长的传统想法。现在是摒弃这种诱人的错误观念的时候了！我们的结论是：要想学业成功，学生就应该下决心做到每周打工不超过10个小时。 |
