this post was submitted on 12 Jan 2024
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A Boring Dystopia
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No one is attacking the child, but the fact that children have to work. If children have to do anything, that's to learn and to have fun. I'm sorry about what you had to go through, but saying that such a situation is wrong is actually attacking the system, not criticizing the people choosing the lesser evils available to them.
I agree children shouldn't have to work. My problem is that the discourse dismisses the agency of children and teenagers, and the solutions given average out to 'prevent them from working'. I see that as an attack on people under the system because it does nothing to solve the problem. I would not have been able to escape my situation without the freedom to seek employment. I didn't have that full freedom, and ultimately did a lot of work that was illegal.
You can attack the system and while you do that, there are people under 18 years old who are just trying to provide for themselves or their dependents and need a job now.
They have adult responsibilities before the age of 18. A lot of the commenters outright refuse to believe that these legal minors could have possibly matured earlier than the law expects, but that really does happen and it really is socially irresponsible to ignore their struggle.
Most commenters are essentially holding this series of positions based on a photo that is out of context: Why does this kid have a job? The system is bad. Why is the system bad? Some kids have jobs. How can we stop kids from working? We should outlaw jobs for kids.
But that series of positions critically fails to account for exceptions where kids become competent before the age of 18, need jobs and want to work.
It ignores that, in reality, many minors have kids of their own or other dependents that they are struggling to support and it does not provide any plan for them, it makes their situation worse while you fight the system.
That is inhumane public policy. Like many areas of law, this is a complicated issue, and we are going to harm people in our communities if we jump to strict authoritarian control for an answer.