I Think Child Labor Is OK As Long If Its To Buy Non-Necessities

[Gizmo j]

If the child is working to pay for things he/she needs such as housing/food/clothing/school and such than I think that's abuse.

But if the child is working to buy Non-necessities such as video games, I'm ok with that.

What do you think?

 

[Roger Wilco]

It’s a slippery slope. Pretty soon Johnny’s professional lemonade stand will grow a basement with a thriving laundromat.

 

[brycejones]

Wow

 

[MrSquished]

Get 'em mining that coal for Nintendo switches!

 

[cytg111]

I was doing paper routes about 12… that bad?

 

[ivwshane]

Solid logic there, I can’t imagine how corporations would exploit that at all. I’m sure this will go down as well as private prisons, private health care, and declaring that corporations are people too.



/s

 

[NostaSeronx]

Children should be doing education full-time.

If it was like a paid internship with mathematicians, sociologists, historians, lawyers, economists and etc. Then, maybe? Anything to get out of classroom and actually practice knowledge.

 

[sandorski]

A man ahead of our Time.

 

[nOOky]

Define child. I was "working" as young as 8 when I started babysitting to make money. I went to mowing lawns and shoveling snow, to a 20 hour a week job in high school. We were pretty poor, so if I wanted a bicycle other than a hand me down, or Levis instead of Rustlers, I worked. I'm still alive.

 

[sdifox]

So you cannot find a job but you want more competition?

 

[mindless1]

I think you should consult the laws in your state.

 

[crashtech]

It's okay to work for "video games" but not for things that prevent one from dying? Makes sense to me, should be a global mandate.

 

[Moonbeam]

I think it depends on the kid.

 

[mindless1]

It's okay to work for "video games" but not for things that prevent one from dying? Makes sense to me, should be a global mandate.

Depends on the situation. If the family has a hardship and the child contributing to family income is the only way to survive, then it seems like charity/government-assistance should be the first route to recovery but it beats starving.

On the other hand if the parents aren't struggling to make ends meet and have this attitude that the child should work to make their parents life better by paying for things they were supposed to be responsible for, when it isn't the child opting in to the workforce for their own benefit beyond bare essentials, there's something wrong there, makes you wonder what the child's future is going to be.

Children need a strong work ethic but the also need a chance to be children and have the support to be able to make their own choices, gradually increasing until they're ready to make the important ones by age of legal maturity, not be saddled with the burden of a family that wants the child to pay for the parents mistakes. Should the parents even have custody? Again depends on the situation.

 

[ivwshane]

If it’s necessary for a child to work just to take care of the parents then we’ve failed as a society.

 

[crashtech]

@mindless1
My point was that it's stupid to make sweeping generalizations. If we are confining our discussions to the First World, there's lots of good reasons why kids shouldn't have to work, plenty of laws preventing it, and plenty of resources that make it almost totally unnecessary. I can't see the OP now for some reason, but it wasn't clear that the statement was confined to the developed world.

 

[Leeea]

I think you should consult the laws in your state.

You would be surprised:

Wisconsin Employment of Minors Guide - Department of Workforce Development

Wisconsin Employment of Minors Guide - Department of Workforce Development

dwd.wisconsin.gov

Send that 12 year old into the fields! Crack the whip!

It’s a slippery slope. Pretty soon Johnny’s professional lemonade stand will grow a basement with a thriving laundromat.

Close, but no cigar. That would put you in violation of "Work in any confined space". You need to just move the machines into the yard, next to the lemonade stand and your good to go. Be sure to point a camera at it so you can claim your "supervising".



. . .

confessions of evil:
I had a grandmother* who did not want to pay someone to sit her grand kid, who had adhd. The child's mother was a bit useless, which resulted in the grandmother becoming the guardian. She wanted to bring him to work and have him follow her around, and the only way I could make it legal & insured was to make him employee. I jumped through the hoops, made them get the permits, and registered him with the insurance & state. At first he was kind of useless, but later on his grandmother had him watering plants and stuff. So yea, I was one of those employers.

*for some employees, you do whatever it takes

 

[mindless1]

^ I wouldn't be surprised at all, literally meant, DO consult the laws in your state, because it varies. I'm not someone who implies things not stated, at least not on a serious topic.

12 year old working in a field though, it's not all that big a deal in agricultural areas. They aren't expected to perform to adult standards. It's just what opportunities are available. A kid can ride a bicycle a couple miles to a neighboring farm, but can't very well ride 50 miles each morning to deliver newspapers, or mow 5 acres with his/her pushmower, or sell lemonaide on a low traffic road. Rural areas where there are farms, are a different world than city life.

 

[nakedfrog]

If the child is working to pay for things he/she needs such as housing/food/clothing/school and such than I think that's abuse.

But if the child is working to buy Non-necessities such as video games, I'm ok with that.

What do you think?

I think you should define what you mean by "child labor", as it relates to your example.

 

[NWRMidnight]

If the child is working to pay for things he/she needs such as housing/food/clothing/school and such than I think that's abuse.

But if the child is working to buy Non-necessities such as video games, I'm ok with that.

What do you think?

Child labor isn't about what they do with the money they earn, or why they are working. Child labor is about being exploited by businesses, over working them, under paying them, etc, which directly impacts them physically, mentally, which could lead to other problems in their future. One of hundreds of Examples: Johnny is being exploited causing him to not be able to do as well in school, which causes Johnny to barely make it by thru out school, effecting his chance at being accepted in a high ranking collage and is forced to go to community collage, which effects his job opportunities down the road....

edit: spelling

 

[Linux23]

The

^ I wouldn't be surprised at all, literally meant, DO consult the laws in your state, because it varies. I'm not someone who implies things not stated, at least not on a serious topic.

12 year old working in a field though, it's not all that big a deal in agricultural areas. They aren't expected to perform to adult standards. It's just what opportunities are available. A kid can ride a bicycle a couple miles to a neighboring farm, but can't very well ride 50 miles each morning to deliver newspapers, or mow 5 acres with his/her pushmower, or sell lemonaide on a low traffic road. Rural areas where there are farms, are a different world than city life.

The hell they can't ride 50 miles each morning, the useless bastards.

 

[dank69]

That's what chores (and allowance) are for. Not really feasible for W-2 because corporations and shitty parents would find every conceivable way to exploit it.

 

[MtnMan]

Children should be doing education full-time.

Are you saying that working for what you need/want is not educational? It's a great lesson in "there are no free rides" reality of life. It will serve them much better in life than a lot of book learning.

 

[mindless1]

That's what chores (and allowance) are for. Not really feasible for W-2 because corporations and shitty parents would find every conceivable way to exploit it.

Chores and an allowance are a good start but gradually getting them used to the idea of showing up on time, taking orders from non-parent/teacher, can be a positive step towards independence. The idea that a parent is their only supervisor and source of income then can suddenly cut them off completely at age of maturity, doesn't work well for many children.

 

[NostaSeronx]

Are you saying that working for what you need/want is not educational? It's a great lesson in "there are no free rides" reality of life. It will serve them much better in life than a lot of book learning.

Education produces innovation. There is work in education called research. Which is the foundation of any innovation.

It is better to have a society in perpetual education, rather than perpetual work. No amount of education-less work by people will increase efficiency. Only people in research work will increase efficiency.

It is important to have children at a young age to be as educated as possible. For one simple reason, learning is hard when young, but once that foundation is established learning is easy when old.

Hence, why Children if they have to work, it should be in the education field they are most advanced in right then. So, they can achieve more when they are older and more able to learn and innovate.