His thinking was that students would learn the value and pride of work, that they would have a vested interest in their school, and that they would actually have a small income to help the family.
After I read his remarks I read the comments posted on line from my fellow readers. Almost all of them derided the notion. Some of them were merely pro-unions and I can understand folks having strong beliefs on that front. But what concerned me, even though I was expecting it and it was why I chose to read the comments in the first place, was the fact that so many HATED the idea of school children working.
They felt the whole idea was tantamount to abuse. I found myself shaking my head. Despite the hostility of the comments, I tried to remind myself that this was probably a cultural difference. In the south, it is not unusual at all for kids to spend their summers working in the fields on the farm. Some kids spend their afternoons after school working on farms and such as well.
I was out at my dad's sawmill every summer from the time I was twelve. I also had a part time job during the school year at a convenience store every Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday nights and alternating Friday's. The jobs provided spending money for me and bought all my school clothes each year. It also supplemented my parent's grocery money since my dad decided that after the first three meals that they provided, I had to provide my own fourth, fifth, sixth, and sometimes seventh meal of each day.
I would say it provided date money but I was not much of a ladies man in high school. That is a whole other embarrassing story of social inadequacy.
The jobs did not pay much and were not pleasant and I am proud to say that I have never made so little money ever again. But I learned that money was nice to have and that to have it, you have to work for it. I learned that what was so difficult to earn was startlingly easy to spend. And I learned that making more money did not necessarily make me happier. All good lessons to learn and to learn early in life.
And while my experiences helped my family a little, I had a friend in high school whose work actually provided for his family. His dad had a heart attack when we were sophomores in high school and his dad could not work and his mom had to leave her job to take care of his dad. My friend got an afternoon job at a Walmart Distribution Center and literally became the primary bread winner in his family for the next two years until his mother was able to go back to work.
No government program or helping hand from his neighbors could have matched what Walmart paid him. Now this was back before changes in the law led Walmart to only employ people over the age of eighteen in its warehouses. These rules were designed to protect young people just as child labor laws were supposed to prevent the exploitation of children.
But have these laws led to a generation that has no appreciation for work? Do they prevent all members of a family from working together to provide for themselves? I think so.
We have a huge number of young people that have not had a chance to see how the real word works (no pun intended). Behaviors in school (where you have a right to attend) can be more outlandish than at a job (a place where you have to prove your value to belong).
You actually have to show up and produce at a job. You don't get any participatory trophies. I have had to sit down and fire people who were perpetually late or absent. Its the kind of thing that might get you held back at school, but not the kind of thing that would get you thrown out altogether.
I don't want nine year-old children working in coal mines or defusing bombs in the Middle East, but I think some form of employment should be made available to those young people who want to work. Being able to have your own spending money in your pocket and to be able to help your family can be a point of pride and a source of comfort. Well intended laws designed to protect may be doing more harm than good.
Jobs at a school are a good option. Jobs at place in the service industry are another. Like I said before, farms have always provided a place for young people. Walmart Distribution Centers are surprisingly safe places for people around 16 or so - one needs to be adult enough to respect the actual dangers.
Some will argue that the kids will be taking jobs from the adults and not solving anything. I subscribe to the belief that the person who wants the job bad enough will keep it. I also wonder if the added revenue of these newly employed kids might stir the economy and actually create even more jobs. At any rate, it seems patently unfair to deny people who want to work and who would benefit the most from it, a chance to actually hold a job.
At least that is how I see it.
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