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by charcircuit 1161 days ago
Children get money, I get a good product. It's a win win situation.
3 comments

> Children get money

In exchange for extremely dangerous working conditions that can and usually do irreparable damage for life. It's hardly a "win" for a kid to grow up doing this for money, and have horrible health issues after the age of 30, making their remaining life miserable.

Then they shouldn't take that job. The working conditions should be made clear ahead of time so that an informed decision can be made.
>Then they shouldn't take that job.

I think it depends on where in the supply chain kids are participating. If the work is dangerous (ex. mining), they should be banned but if there is a learning experience with little risk of long term negative consequences, it should be available for the interested.

I enjoyed the computer work and newspaper route I had as a child and wouldve probably jumped at the opportunity to assemble digital devices.

So child labor laws are unnecessary if they benefit you?
If everyone is benefiting from something and no one is being harmed then yes I do believe the laws are unnecessary.
The benefits and detriments the children get by working are not equal to those they could get if they were able to get an education and have free time to play, instead.

"This is beneficial enough that some people choose it" and "this is a genuine good thing for those people, compared to the other options" are not equivalent.

Did you spend your childhood in a sweatshop as well?
I had my own side hustles as a child. I preferred computer related work instead of manual labor. Since I was good at what I did no one cared about my age.