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‘I can’t believe we’re having this conversation’: the states pushing for 14-year-olds to serve alcohol
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2023
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You shouldn't have a job at the age of 14, let alone have one in a bar. I'm not sure who's worse- the self serving gop or parents that would allow their kids to work in that environment
You have to remember that the people promoting this sort of thing never in a million years think it would affect themselves or their loved ones. They are 100% convinced it will be used to "punish" people, just not themselves.
You see it literally every time republicans implement things like abortion bans, detainment camps, child labor etc. And republicans start crying in the media and say stupid shit like "He's not hurting the right ones"....
Look I started working before I was 14 and I turned out perfectly dysfunctional!
I disagree with the no job at all mindset. Teenagers working a Saturday job or something similar with low hours to put their own money in their pocket is good for their development and for understanding the value of money relative to work, budgeting, etc, which far too many people enter adulthood still not familiar with. Probably shouldn't be pulling pints in a bar though.
14-year-olds often aren't even in high school yet. That is too young to be working a real job.
Nah. It's really not and plenty of them are plenty mature enough to handle simple shit. I washed dishes and did blue berry reading at 14. Low risk, brought in extra money for my hobbies, saved up and got my my first car, taught me the value of money and physical labor. All extremely positive factors in developing my youth.
Sorry, why should a middle schooler be doing physical labor? This sounds like nightmare capitalism.
Because there is very little risk to health and safety and I don't see an issue with teens making extra money of the side. You all are just out to be angry and rage at news.
Weird, because UNICEF seems to disagree. But hey, they don't work in benefits and taxation, so what would they know about child mental and physical health?
"Roughly 160 million children were subjected to child labour at the beginning of 2020, with 9 million additional children at risk due to the impact of COVID-19. This accounts for nearly 1 in 10 children worldwide. Almost half of them are in hazardous work that directly endangers their health and development.
Children may be driven into work for various reasons. Most often, child labour occurs when families face financial challenges or uncertainty – whether due to poverty, sudden illness of a caregiver, or job loss of a primary wage earner.
The consequences are staggering. Child labour can result in extreme bodily and mental harm, and even death. It can lead to slavery and sexual or economic exploitation. And in nearly every case, it cuts children off from schooling and health care, restricting their fundamental rights."
Lmaoooooo you are comparing working in a restaurant to sex trafficking. Top notch shit 👍🤣.
Sure, just as 'top notch' as suggesting it's good for children to make bloated plutocrat corporatists richer off the sweat of their backs rather than enjoy their childhoods because "it never hurt me."
And, by the way, what exactly do you think will happen to young teenage girls tending bar? Do you think they won't be sexually harassed by drunk older men, possibly raped?
Or did you forget that this was about allowing young girls to serve alcohol to drunk adults?
Realistically I don't think you'd even notice a blip on the radar. I've found most bars are extremely productive of staff especially women. They are far more likely to be raped at home or with friends. I think this is a lot of truthiness and imaginations running wild.
Considering it's bad for adult women working in bars... https://www.cosmopolitan.com/career/a15334055/female-bartenders-sexually-harassed-at-work/
Spoken like a true man. Go ahead and Google the percentage of women who were sexually assaulted before the age of 18.
Better yet, here's a link laurenskids.org/awareness/about-faqs/facts-and-stats/
I don't care how nice or high-end your bar is, children don't belong in a bar. And it doesn't matter how protective the bar is of staff, a place where adults gather to drink alcohol is a completely inappropriate environment for children.
A 16yro with a job vs a 14 yro with a job is a HUGE difference. Those 2 years are massive in development. 14 yro's should not have a real job yet
Sure, if you ignore all of human history it sounds like nightmare capitalism.
You mean all of human history when we had things like slavery and women as property? Yeah, we should keep doing that stuff too, right?
No, you're making up things to be angry at. Children working existed before capitalism.
And who suggested it didn't? Oh yeah. No one.
Your argument is really "we did it before, so it's fine"? We did a ton of things before that aren't ok. Historical usage of a thing doesn't make it ok.
No. Children working existed before capitalism, you're grasping straws coming up with that conclusion of what I said.
All of human history before capitalism? That makes no sense. How could you have a nightmare form of capitalism before it even existed? Get it together, dude.
We live in capitalism. Therefore, making life worse makes this a worse version of capitalism. Get it now?
many 14 year olds in the UK are two years away from finishing school.
Nothing wrong at all with them learning to turn up on time, get on with co-workers, budget their wages etc. Stand them in great stead for 2 years later when they are into the real world. 16 year old looking for work after leaving school stands a much better chance if they already have work experience
What? It's only two years off finishing senior school and going off to college/sixth form.
This is about the U.S. based on the article and you are talking about how school works in a completely different country. In the U.S., middle school is a step between elementary and high school for kids age 12-14 who are too mature for elementary school but not mature enough to be treated with real responsibility yet.
Expecting a child, and they are children, to go out and earn a living at 14 is ridiculous. Especially when it will be a horrible entry-level low-skill miserable job that will just make them unhappy.
Bollox, I was working from about 13 to put some dough in my pocket as my parents weren't exactly rich. Didn't do me any harm.
"It didn't do me any harm" is not a reason to do something. And I would say that you have no idea how it harmed your development. People make that claim about getting beaten as kids too.
Given that I work in benefits and taxation and I see how bad some people are with their money and budgeting as they weren't forced to do so at an early age, of say it was for the best.
So working at 13 years old guarantees you will be good with your money? Or not working at 13 years old guarantees you won't?
Because it would seem to me that teaching children financial literacy would be a better plan than allowing corporations to benefit from child labor.
I think the practical application of actually having money in your pocket and having to manage it is better than anything we can teach theoretically. I'm not saying have them doing 40 hour weeks, but a few hours of a weekend won't hurt them.
Unless those few hours of a weekend are serving drunk men as a teenage girl, you mean. Then there's a huge amount of potential for hurt.
Yeah, I said in my very first post they probably shouldn't be working in bars. My disagreement was that they shouldn't be working at all.
Well you didn't learn to spell "bollocks" for starters.
So you will now quite happily send your 14 yr old daughter to go stand pulling pints in amongst a group of drunken men?
Read the comment again, I said they probably shouldn't be working in pubs, but I'm not against 14 year olds working at all.
I was abandoned by my parents, didn't do me any harm. Guess child abandonment should be legal according to your logic.
I mean, it is right? Kids get taken into care all the time.
No child abandonment is illegal. Surrendering your child is legal if done a certain amount of time after birth. Thanks for admitting you know nothing about these laws though.
Teenagers maybe. 14 yro in middle school? Absolutely not.
Fourteen is a teenager is it not?
Yes. That's why I said Maybe
nothing wrong with having a job at 14. I was working at 9 years old.
Markets and fair stalls at 9-10, paper round from 9 years old, by 14 i was working in cafe's. Absolutely nothing wrong with children in jobs if they are paid fairly, arent exploited etc.
but 100% they should not be serving alcohol.
Work in a capitalist system is predicated on exploiting labour for the purpose of profit enough. You cannot have a capitalist system and have work not be exploitative.
If it wasn't, they'd make no profit.