Working while going to school is becoming the norm for kids as young as 12, according to recent statistics from the Department of Labor. And, though working can have some obvious benefits to school-aged kids--like learning responsibility and earning spending money--the benefits must be weighed against the risks, say the experts.

DOL statistics released last December show that almost 60 percent of kids who were 16 when the survey was conducted had begun working for an employer during the 1997-98 academic year. "Even at younger ages, working during the academic year is common," says the DOL about its longitudinal study conducted first in 1997 and again in 1998-99. Eighteen percent of kids age 14 at the beginning of the 1997-98 school year were formally employed (excluding yard work and babysitting) during the school year, and just under 40 percent of 15-year-olds were working.

"Working can certainly be a positive experience for older teenagers," says AFT health and safety specialist Darryl Alexander. "But once they start to exceed an average of 15 hours per week, their schoolwork begins to suffer." The common thread among most of the studies about teenagers, work and school is that "young people really need to be protected from long hours and dangerous working conditions," Alexander adds.

The DOL Employment Standards Administration points out that most teens--51 percent--work in the retail industry, which includes fast-food outlets and grocery stores. And, it’s in that very sector that 54 percent of occupational injuries to teens occur. Teenagers are killed at work, most often, while driving or traveling as passengers in motor vehicles. When left working alone at night in stores, they can fall victim to violent crimes, and many teens get injured while operating meat-slicing machines and dough mixers, even though federal provisions designate the operation of such machines as too dangerous for workers under age 18. A study conducted by a state DOL says that when adjusted for differences in the number of hours worked, the nonfatal injury rate for adolescent workers exceeds that for adults.

State legislators are beginning to pay more attention to the problem, says AFT research department senior associate Ed Muir, who notes that legislation limiting the number of hours a teen can work has been proposed in a number of states, including Connecticut, Massachusetts and Oklahoma.

A study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, issuing its results in 1999, found that "high-intensity work"--that is, 20 hours or more per week--is associated with unhealthy and problem behaviors, including substance abuse and minor deviance, insufficient sleep and exercise, and limited time spent with families. "Moreover," says the study, "a high level of investment in work during adolescence has been found to be associated with decreased eventual educational attainment."

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