Is 13 too young to work? A Saskatchewan proposal has reignited debate around kids and labour
Is 13 too young to work? A Saskatchewan proposal has reignited debate around kids and labour
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50+ years ago when I was 12, I got my first job at an ice cream/burger stand making 0.75 cents per hour. The only downside was my creepy old boss who took great joy in pinching my non-existent breasts and child-sized ass.
2 yrs later I started working at the local pizza joint (legal age to work was 14 back then).
The real problem these days is owners who would abuse the privilege of having kids work for them. I mean you just know that's gonna happen, esp under Shmoe's 'leadership'.
That is fucked, but I think workers of all ages can be exploited. In my case, working a few different jobs from age 13 to 15 alerted me early to the exploitative behaviour of employers, and I've been very diligent in asserting my federal, state, and contractual rights in employment ever since, and to help and insist that co-workers do too.
In fact, I think this lesson is best learned by child workers, because at that age, the value of the lesson is high, and the potential stakes of asserting ones rights are low, EG as a child, if the child is sacked for asserting their rights, they only lose their pocket money. As an adult out in the wild, this could mean risking their income which pays for rent, family, bills, and other critical expenses.
I think you forget that women and children still don't have enough power, at any age, to deny any man what he wants. They still die doing that, or are beaten within an inch of their lives, or are fired/written up for refusing sexual advances, or are put in situations where they've received no training but have to run a dangerous machine anyway.
That is not something any child should 'have' to learn.
How about instead we crack down on the businesses that do shit like that ... maybe 1st offense they lose their business ... 2nd offense they lose their life.