[Broken_Hippo]

As if non-working teenagers don't also ride bikes on roads

Sure they do, but we all know that you drive differently and in different places when you aren't doing it for payment and dealing with those sorts of constraints (if I'm not fast enough, I'll get bad ratings/tips, for example).

It also used to be normal to not finish high school, not allow women to get a bank account without a man's signature, and to beat your kids. Segregation was normal, too. Just because something used to be normal doesn't mean we should still be doing it.

And I'll point out that folks would deal drugs even while working was normal. Heck, some folks (including teenagers) use jobs as a way to deal more drugs. It isn't work or drugs. I'm not sure why teenagers need to do anything other than learning about the world and going to school. School often already takes the time of a full time job.

[mathgeek]

> I'm not sure why teenagers need to do anything other than learning about the world and going to school.

A couple of thoughts:

1. Working is a way to learn about the world in a low risk way (losing a job as a teenager is often more a lesson than a set back, for example). It’s also a way to earn your own income, which is obviously useful.

2. Not every teenager has the luxury of living in a stable home with one or both parents/guardians. Even then, some teens are better off spending more time away from those people beyond time spent in school.

[atlanticaccent]

You specifically mention low risk in your first point but not all jobs have the same risk profile and food delivery drivers absolutely do not have the same risk profiles as say, a retail worker. If the spectrum of "jobs we let teenagers do" is from Kidzania to food delivery cyclist, I think it's in the interest of said teenagers to tip the balance towards Kidzania.

Seriously! Roads are not a joke! Bikes don't have crumplezones! A significant minority of drivers actively target cyclists! The teenagers in these scenarios are also effectively operating under coercion when they swap with a registered driver! How could any of this be low risk?

[mathgeek]

I was only commenting on the quoted section above. No thoughts on kids doing gig deliveries.

[hurryer]

> I'm not sure why teenagers need to do anything other than learning about the world and going to school

Some teenagers don't have what to eat.

[Broken_Hippo]

And they shouldn't need to worry about that. Neither should others, honestly.

I mean, realistically I know that some folks don't have real choices, and that includes whether or not they get to concentrate on school or whether they need to work - but it doesn't have to be that way so often.

[thfuran]

And many teenagers have hobbies or interests that aren't free.