When you’re working in high school, everyone involved needs to understand that high school comes first. 

Having an after-school job to make a little extra cash is a pretty common practice, and it’s not a bad one. It teaches you work ethic pretty early on, and you can learn how to be an employee and look after your own money. And businesses appreciate it because it’s pretty cheap labor. But there should definitely be boundaries in place around working when you’re still in school. School is always more important than the job, and that should be made clear to everyone involved. If there comes a time when the job is getting in the way or making life harder for the student, then it should be re-evaluated. It’s on the managers and the parents to make sure this isn’t happening. 

The manager in this story, though, did not see it that way. They continually failed to realize they were mis-scheduling the high school student, and were not being sorry for their mistakes. It’s one thing to have some miscommunication and mess up sometimes. It’s another thing to completely disregard someone else’s feelings and desires. It makes the employee feel devalued and like they should look elsewhere for employment. If you don’t feel like you’re being listened to in your place of work, then you probably don’t want to stay. Especially if you’re in school, and you’re having to juggle that on top of a job.