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honeyusagi6 t1_ja4yey2 wrote

An article about a similar occurrence, in another state, was shared a few weeks back on Facebook. I was stunned by the number of comments in defence of the owner. How dare he be punished for giving children the ability to work and earn money! Mind blowing.

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ManfredsJuicedBalls t1_ja5hoqh wrote

You can tell who the ones were that were exploited as kids

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politehornyposter t1_ja5t2yf wrote

It's all they've known. If you think about it, this is kind of how the system is supposed to work, right? "My dad and mom did it." Do they know an alternative?

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IDGAF_Its_My_Opinion t1_ja6cm4z wrote

"illegally allowed 154 minors, ages 14 and 15, to work at times not permitted by child labor laws"

Allowed them to work, didn't force them. Kids probably wanted the extra money. Maybe covered shifts for others thinking they were doing the right thing.

I have a 12 year old and would be thrilled if she wanted a job at 14 or 15. I would be even more proud of her if she said she wanted to work early or stay late because she had the opportunity.

7PM on a school night is a joke. No 14 or 15 year old is going to bed at 8 PM. Ah, yes homework... Another part of growing up. You have to manage your time. If you can't stay late, don't ask to stay late. If grades are an issue then that's my job to put my foot down and say no.

18 hours a week is a joke, done w/ school around 3, could work 3-4 hours a night 3-4 days a week, but couldn't pickup a weekend shift b/c they are out of time.

I agree w/ the fryer issue. Wouldn't want a 14/15 kid or even a 16/17 on a fryer.

Let the down votes begin. I'll assume it's b/c you want your fries made by a 14 year old.

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behls16 t1_ja6ejz6 wrote

Please do us all a favor and shut your fuckin yap.

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libananahammock t1_ja6fiav wrote

Fuck homework and extra help after school or band or soccer or robotics club or volunteer work or just relaxing because 8 fucking hours of school is a fucking full time job. Don’t you come home and relax a bit after work?

They have their whole lives to work and be adults and have a shitty time. Let them be kids. Let them play, let them rest, let them join clubs and sports to try and find what interests them.

That’s not saying that NO minor under 18 shouldn’t have a job but there are laws for a reason and that reason is that they get exploited by the owners that don’t give a fuck about them and that decades of research and history has shown us what is and isn’t healthy and safe for kids. But you know better compared to all of that I’m guessing, right?

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IDGAF_Its_My_Opinion t1_ja6joj2 wrote

Great point. My daughter does both band & chorus. Next time a concert runs past 7 PM on a school night I'll make sure they shut that shit down right away.

What else could we put an end to...

No more 6 AM swim team practice before school, either. No more swim meets. Practiced an hour before school each day and 2 hours after. No sitting in the gym all day Saturday at the swim meet. You're out of time.

Let's not even talk about hockey games & practices. They can be at 5 AM or 10 PM. Then all the weekend games & tournaments.

Friday night football game two hours from home on the bus? Nope... Already practiced 3 hours a day. By the time you get there, you're off the clock. Gotta forfeit at half time to get home before the 18 hour per week clock runs out. This would include band & cheerleaders too.

Again, my point is that if a kid wants to do something productive, let them do it. Sports, band, book club, work, whatever. You say let them join clubs or sports and figure out what they enjoy. Maybe they enjoy working, or is that not a thing anymore?

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Dain42 t1_ja6seb3 wrote

Nobody enjoys working, especially not the sort of service industry jobs that minors can get.

The clue is that they have to pay you to be there.

Also, your comment is basically just a Gish Gallop. Specious, bad faith arguments just whizzing by like telephone poles along the highway.

But, actually, just to pick the strangest one you included: hell no, 6am swim practices shouldn't be allowed!! Kids would have to be getting up around 5a to get there and be ready, so to get adequate sleep, they'd need to be getting to bed around 8 or 9 the previous night, something I guarantee highschool-aged kids are not going to be doing.

Extracurriculars shouldn't actively detract from academics. That's the same reason we regulate working conditions for minors the way we do, actually: so we don't detract from their education.

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WookieeSteakIsChewie t1_ja7qrob wrote

>Nobody enjoys working

Ah, there's the sticky wicket. I fucking LOVED working when I was 15. Making money, hanging out with friends, money for dates, buying stuff that I wanted because I had money. It was fucking awesome.

I still do, actually, but I'm fortunate enough to have a good work ethic that got me a great job.

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Dain42 t1_ja9l58k wrote

You should tell your boss that you enjoy it so much he can stop paying you!!

But being serious, it sounds like you liked having money, not working. Those are very different things.

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hahahoudini t1_ja72uq5 wrote

You make some damn fine points! But why stop there? Just keep on going with that kickass logic! Let's bring the 4 year old chimney sweeps! 2 year olds hosing down entrails at the slaughterhouses! They'll think it's fun if they don't know any better! I say let em be *productive, * instead of wastin all that time wit useless schoolin! Yee haw!

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WookieeSteakIsChewie t1_ja7qtwc wrote

Yeah, because a teenager having a job is completely similar to those things. Didn't you work as a teenager?

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hahahoudini t1_ja89zie wrote

The whole point of my post was to illustrate that bc something happened in the past doesn't make it something to aspire or even acquiesce to.

If you're just a lonely stranger on the internet trying to have a discussion about the way things were, then yes, I started working at 15, worked with most of my free time, to pay for things like food and gas money, and I lost pace to my classmates who had more study time. Their parents cared more and understood how capitalism works. My high school jobs as janitor and worker in a book shipping factory only prevented me from getting into better colleges. How about we try to do better for kids today than yesterday instead of trying to brag about how hard we had it to justify backsliding into the bad ideas that flourished during the industrial revolution? Also, exploiting child labor reduces pressure to increase wages for adult workers (really just even keep pace with inflation), which is a whole nother basket of things that are fucked up. Corporations can afford to pay workers more. The adults working jobs should be paid enough that families don't need multiple incomes just to get by.

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Nick08f1 t1_jaca8lk wrote

The hours are there to help prioritize things to help further themselves and not get trapped in the grind at a young age.

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Zenith2017 t1_ja8449h wrote

Well, despite your concerns, it's still fuckin illegal and they deserve to get punished

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whomp1970 t1_ja9vbe4 wrote

If it makes you feel any better, I'm kind of with you.

My kid wasn't interested in sports, or choir, or any school clubs or activities. She came home, did her homework, and played Nintendo until bedtime.

But put the idea of actually earning money in front of her, and I wouldn't be surprised if she wanted to put in a few hours each afternoon at the register at McDonald's.

If her schoolwork suffered, yep, I'd pull her out of the job. Same as if her sleep suffered, or her mood suffered.

But I don't have a problem with a 15 year old kid working the register (not the fryer or the grill) or washing dishes at McDonald's. Especially if it's her desire to do that, and especially if the parents are keeping an eye on the situation.

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