Beginning on August 1, children in Arkansas under the age of 16 will no longer need employment certificates to work, thanks to a law passed in the last legislative session.

  • Galluf@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I’m not seeing the issue here. The protections for approrptate child working conditions remain in place. It just eliminates the need to make a special application for every single worker.

    I started refereeing soccer games at age 14 and didn’t have to go through any of that process. It was a great learning experience for me and gave me some spending money. I’m all for reducing the burden of hiring kids so that they can get exposure to the working world.

    To be clear, I still very much think that there need to be strong protections for work hours, working conditions, and not being permitted to work in certain industries.

    • steakmeout@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      It must be nice to see children as an exploitable resource. And in classic conservative posturing you equate child labour with refereeing soccer games at age 14. Must be nice to look back and have such pleasant memories. I doubt these kids will be so wistful about industrialised farming, chicken preparation or other sweatshop jobs. I’m pretty certain you don’t even see these kids.

      At 14 you had the support of your parents and a safety net of laws that made it so their oversight was baked into your employment. Lots of kids are poor and have families who can’t offer the sort of support and financial security you enjoyed.

      • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Children are not just an exploitable resource, they are a renewable one!

        But yeah. I was one of those 14 year olds working jobs that were meant for adults. I don’t really have strong opinions about this law change but I am in the position that my kids will never have to do what I had to do as a teen.