This is a guest post written by the owner of Exit Rights.
Philosophy professors ask this question: If you could have a job where you were ill-paid but saw your work contributing value to the world, or a job where you were paid well but all your work was burned at the end of each day, which would you choose? The students discuss the different kinds of reward, apply the ideas to their own lives, and gain a greater understanding of why others might choose differently.
High school is the worst of both worlds. The “work” is completely unpaid and completely useless to the world. Those “rebellious” teens are a pretty compliant bunch, by and large, and so most of them will do as they’re told … but some of them itch.
Humans, including young humans, aren’t happy when useless. The kids sink what energy they have left into finding ways to do things, make things, to contribute something real. They form bands, bake pies, and create game extensions. They develop skills in their free time. Since humans also aren’t happy when broke, some of them hope to use those skills to earn.
They’re not allowed. Until they’ve reached a certain age ― 16 in most of the US ― they’re considered “child labor,” unable even to ask for a job without a special youth worker permit. Even then, there are special restrictions for those younger than 18 which still put them at a disadvantage.
I interviewed three young job-seekers. I asked them why they wanted jobs, when they didn’t yet have living expenses.
“Abby” told me that she wanted to save up money against college expenses. Why rack up debt, when she could save in advance? She’s not exactly challenged and exhausted by her high school load, so would like to use some of her energy to work towards her future.
“Ben” laughed. He said relying on his parents might be okay if they were willing to give him infinite money for the rest of his life, and pointed out that when he needs a job, he’ll be in a better position if he already has work experience. The money would be nice, but what he really wants are those first resume entries.
TheRealbek (identified by his Reddit handle, as requested) would like to start a business. He has a doable and marketable idea, but his parents declined to front the startup costs. He understands that this is their right, and so decided to earn the startup money himself.
One of the interesting points here is that every one of them is focusing on the future. None of them mentioned video games, clothes, or other frivolities on which many assume the young would fritter away their money.
I asked my three interviewees about the idea that young people could best prepare for their futures by focusing on school. Abby reminded me that she already focused on school as far as the material allowed. Ben was amused by the idea that academic study would somehow prepare him for working better than actually working would. TheRealbek told me that young people should focus on school, but not to the exclusion of directly useful skills, and also mentioned that allowing young people to earn money could let them pay for more education ― a point Abby had mentioned earlier ― as well as letting them learn how to handle money.
Again, I’m struck by the future time orientation. None of them want to drop out because they’re too cool for school. Two explicitly mentioned that they valued education, and the third had nothing against it. They don’t want to quit school to work ― they want to finish school and work. Why do we make it so hard?
The idea of “child labor” conjures up the dreadful specter of small children chained to looms, but that’s not what I’m seeing here. I’m seeing young adults aged 12-15 who would like part-time jobs slinging fries ― a task most twelve-year-olds could perform safely and adequately. So why don’t we let them?
The real reason isn’t to push them into school. By the time the US heavily regulated child labor in 1938, industrial child labor was already largely gone and most kids already went to school. The real impetus was that the country was struggling with the Great Depression and its stratospheric unemployment rate. Previous attempts to outlaw children’s jobs were struck down by courts, but when adults wanted those jobs, we all suddenly changed our minds. When they couldn’t push all the children out through market forces alone, they simply banned the practice. Kids can’t vote.
This has proven to be a bad thing for the kids. You see, our culture had already changed over to the idea that kids shouldn’t work. Once that happened, the only kids still working were those who genuinely wanted jobs and a few who genuinely needed them.
Taking away the jobs didn’t take away the would-be workers. There are still young people who want or need income, but since their efforts to seek it have been banned, they must now turn to unreliable cash-under-the-table jobs or the black market.
We should relax child labor laws. My three interview subjects are not in dire straits, but they all have valid reasons to desire paid employment. We banned both the youngest and the oldest workers when jobs were terrifyingly scarce, but we let the oldsters opt back in when times had eased. The youngsters have been locked out for almost a century. Is it right to prevent them from starting their futures?
There are other young people who need the right to work for their own immediate well-being and safety. There are kids in bad families who are capable of taking care of themselves if the rest of us would let them. By what right do we demand that they focus on their studies and not worry about money? How do we rationalize this as protecting them?
The right to work, to exchange our labor for goods, is a basic human right. As such, it should be accorded to anyone capable of making use of it. To do otherwise is irrational, unfair, and sometimes permanently harmful for the targets of our so-called protection.
This is a guest post written by the owner of Exit Rights.
Exit Rights is a blog on the most vital youth right: the right to leave bad homes and schools.
