I'm just wondering the inherent negativity of it. I'm not talking slave labour or forced labour but just putting down the age restricition of working age isn't what I'd call evil. What's your opinion on it?
It really depends on what age the child is, because if it's as low as 7, you'd rob this child of his childhood, and everyone knows that's the most blissful of times (at least for most) and when you then take away the freedom and carelessness of being a child, it's 'evil' (because even though it's voluntary, kids shouldn't be working, that's just how it is) Though I don't know what the minimum age for working in Norway is, I do believe you can start working around 13-14, which I find to be a good age to gain some experience, be it paper-route or whatnot.
Noroz brings up the point of protecting the sanctity of childhood, which I agree with. Additionally, it had gotten to the problem where children were being forced to work, whether it be out of the time period, the greediness of parents, or the family's economic state required it. It was to the point where it deprived the child of not only their right to be a child, but their right to an education--which guaranteed that they would never be anything more than a factory job or farm hand. Today, hey, anything is possible. I do think it would be a nice idea to try seeing what would happen if we lowered the minimum age a little to early teens/preteen years. Of course, there is always the problem of the child having the maturity to be able to handle a job at that age. But I guess it could also work on the other side, having a job could teach the child responsibility. So in an ideal case, there's nothing wrong with it, no... in my opinion, at least.
Definitely, I mean, desperate times call for desperate measures. But another thing which is important is what type of job it is. When you say child labor, you probably think of mass-producing something, but I mean, there are cases in which children do real, hard, physical labor. And I don't approve of that, because that would ruin the development of the child's skeleton, and eventually cause different types of bone-related issues which sucks later in life. Of course, as Misty mentioned, there would possibly be lack of education - though if you were born and raised a farmer, I don't think you would necessarily need a certain education (I'm not saying farmers aren't educated) - of course, you need to learn math, reading and writing, but that's possible outside of school, I mean, I could read by the age of 4 or 5, and I never even went to kindergarten or preschool. I learned it all thanks to the beautiful technology I'm using now :)
Again backing up the childhood issue... Childhood really only happens once. However I do think that older children.... Say 13+ could benefit from work experience. At the very least, monitored work experience. Using myself as an example, my siblings and I all started working for our various family businesses over the years, and so we've always been a little more independent than our peers. On top of that our parents would have us do labour around the house... So we've always known how to cook for ourselves, clean for ourselves, do our own laundry. We learned these things all before the age of ten which we knew made us tougher than other kids. All three of us were never picked on in school because we knew how to fend for ourselves. It wasn't hard work at all though. It was either cashiering, or peeling green beans (we all also learned how to count money really young which became extremely useful!), or doing various side-jobs around the cafe. As we got older we'd start serving and waiting tables. You also have to understand that both my parents are first generation immigrants from Asia so to them, having a child work for you at a young age was very common since in Asia, more often than not the child would be expected to take over the family business, so it was crucial the child learn how business works at an early age. Of course they don't expect any of us to take over, but it wasn't forced work at all. We all could've said no if we wanted. :p
People here seem to be forgetting that childhood is a relatively new "invention." In older times, kids younger than 10 years old could be doing labor that today people would be way too protective to even consider letting a child do today. Just consider what was happening way back in Jesus' time. You had kids, probably 7-8 years old, learning and doing their father's trade. And it was generally accepted as okay. The problem today is that people, for whatever reason, have in the last hundred or so years decided that children simply must have 12 whole years before they should even be allowed to do any kind of work. Never mind forcing it on them, what about what the child wants? In this day and age, I only see a problem with forcing a child to work. However, if the child wants to work and is informed of the danger, I don't see any reason why he or she shouldn't.
And what was the lifespan back then? Or the opportunities given to the children once they grew up? Now, they have longer to learn things and a wider range of things to learn, not just their father's trade. Relatively new or not, childhood is still something that should be held sacred. That said, I don't have much of a problem allowing students from, let's say...13 years old to 15 years old working certain types of jobs. I wouldn't want them serving or working in garages or something, hell, even cooking, but doing something would be fine. Of course, there's hours of the day, days of the week that they'll be allowed to work. Juggling a job and school would be hard, you don't want a kid thinking that work's more important while 13 because that thought would stick. So I would say that students need to make certain grades or something of the sort before being able to get a job. My biggest fear would be if, eventually, child labour turns into child slavery.
Well by relatively new, I mean that the idea came about within the last 100 years. The average life expectancy 100 years ago, while shorter, wasn't too much shorter than we have now to make as a much of a difference as you suggest. It's a privilege, not a right, to have a childhood. The right that you're probably thinking of is not that to childhood, but a right to have a time to learn how to act in society.I do agree, however, that joining the workforce as a child should never be forced. On child slavery, you're making the assumption that all slavery is wrong. Provided the child is doing something age appropriate in the service, it's no worse than having the child do chores around the house for no money.
Well slavery is wrong doesn't matter what kind really. Now to return to the topic I do not believe that child labor is wrong so long as the pay is appropriate for the job and the hours worked. That isn't to say people should hire only or mostly children because you could pay them oh say 1/3 an adult's pay for similar hours. In my opinion it should be from the minimum age until the mid teens (15 or so) the pay could be something like 2/3 an adult or an older teen (16+) should recieve due to the fact they may be less efficient or may not require the pay as much, the benefits should be similar if not exactly alike. Also there should be a restriction of a maximum 1 child for every 2 adults to avoid companies trying to hire mostly children to make a quick buck. In short, I believe that with proper restrictions and fair pay child labor could be a good thing and helpful to minors and the economy as a whole, so to answer the original question nothing is wrong with proper child labor and it is certainly not evil.
Different time periods call for different rules. Back then you were also required to marry a girl if you raped her, because that was just the best solution. Things are different now. I don't think kids should be allowed to do factory work or intense labor, but they should be allowed to do stuff like be cashiers or receptionists or other easy crap like that if they really want money/ their parents need it
Keep in mind though, that Lifespan is not solely based on your childhood. Over the last 100 years there have been amazing process within medicine, so the average age varies more depending on the medicine and health section of a nation. Also, there are many clothes sold in the western world that has been produced by children. The companies in the west doesn't necessarily know about it, but everyone knows it is the case. And as I said before, light work would definitely be possible for a child to do, as long as they are instructed and overlooked. And as long as it wouldn't turn into slavery, it shouldn't be a problem. Of course, there are few enough jobs as it is, and of course children should have the exact same rights as adults. If anything, children (over a certain age ofc) could work as summer substitutes or something. I worked the first time as a summer substitute when I was 14 I think, and I know I could definitely had done that at a younger age. (I'm not saying to take away their summer but you get my point.)
It's true, childhood didn't always exist. And what are the benefits of it? Few years of innocence that result in heartbreak and torment when it inevitably ends? I don't look back on childhood and see it's happiness most of the time, ever since I've become more independent and mature, I've felt better about myself and my life. Innocence made me feel worse about life now that I think about it. But still just by having the option to get a job at a young age doesn't mean childhood is going to shatter into a million pieces like a window after a brick had been thrown through it. Jobs are just one progression strafe into adulthood, whether we try to resist it or not, it's coming one day and maturity at a younger is actually in my eyes a benefit over the misguided view of youth. I sound like an old man. And also as I attempted to address in my initial post, I'm not talking about slave or forced labour in children, that's a completely different section of labour, I'm talking about finding a job at a young age. Obviously, anyone with a lack of experience or training at any age will not be the CEO of a company or manning the helm of a war ship, I'm talking basic jobs cleaning, customer service, etc. And of course laws can be put in place in order it regulate anything like slavery possibilities but that's an extreme.
I think whether or not children can choose to work at certain ages is more based off of maturity than needing "a childhood" and it should just come down to whether the individual child would be responsible enough for the work, and how much the work would help them become mature, but it is difficult to regulate things that are based on an individual level, so child labor laws went for when most people would be mature enough for the work.
