Should students take part-time jobs?

Although still much lower than in foreign countries, the percentage of university students taking part-time jobs in China is on the increase. Some people criticize these students on the ground that part-time jobs distract students' attention and expose students too early to the issue of money. However, I firmly believe that working during university education can be very beneficial to students.

First of all, taking part-time jobs can help reduce the financial burden of the students' families. Generally speaking, the income of most parents is not very high. As many universities are increasing their tuition, the education of their children is becoming an increasingly heavy burden for many parents. Some parents in the cities find it hard to pay this cost, not to mention those parents in the countryside. But if students can take some part-time jobs, their income can cover part of the expenditure, thus lowering the burden of their parents. One of my classmates pay for daily expenses completely from his own earings, and both his parents and he are very proud of it.

Furthermore, taking part-time jobs can teach students much about hardship. Chinese students are mostly the only child at home, and their requests are usually met at any cost. This advantage actually deprives these children of the oppotunity to experience hardship, which can teach them a lot about the society. By taking some part-time jobs, students can not only learn that it is hard to earn even a little money, but also learn to cultivate a correct viewpoint about life.

Most importantly, doing part-time jobs can sharpen students' awareness of the society. If students spend all their time on study, they will not have sufficient understanding of the society, and this insufficient knowledge may be dangerous when these students leave university for the society. But through part-time work, students will not only get a good understanding of the society and prepare themselves psychologically for the future career and life, but gain much experience in dealing with realities and people of different kinds.

It is true that taking part-time jobs will take away some time that can be spent on study and that it is not good for students to focus their mind on money. But it is equally true that taking part-time jobs can bring students the benefits of less financial burden, more experience of hardship as well as more awareness of the society. They definitely surpass the harms of the work. What we should do is to teach students to arrange their time well and not to focus too much on money, and then encourage them to take part-time jobs.