[dragonwriter]

> Allowing teens to willingly enter an employmemt contract is neither exploitive nor child labor.

Non-adult teens (“Teen” spans the border) are indeed children, and their labor – while in some circumstances, quantities, etc. – permitted, is regulated as part of the broader regulation of child labor (which is not a total ban, even for very young children, and is graduated by age.)

Whether it ought to be within the scope of acceptable child labor or not is a separate discussion, but it is child labor.

[tastyfreeze]

People learn skills by performing them. As parents we teach children life skills by having them help do the chore that daily life requires. When I have yard, mechanic, or construction work my children help. They have since they were able. I learned those skills by doing the same when I was young.

By prohibiting capable teens from work, either by pricing them out or law, we are hobbling their ability to learn valuable work skills. As a result we end up with adults that are lacking simple work skills that would make their labor more valuable.

[Nimitz14]

No, a teenager is not a child.