As parents, one of our most important jobs is training our children to become responsible adults someday. Besides the obvious societal implications of this (you know, stuff like self-sufficiency, good citizens who pay their taxes, staying out of prison and all that jazz), there are plenty of selfish ones as well. Although we love having them around while they’re small and cute, the last thing we want is some 35 year-old living in our basement playing video games and mooching all our food. (Now … [Read more...]
Putting Kids to Work!
In 1938 Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act, setting, among other things, the minimum age at which a child can be gainfully employed. Before that, children as young as 6 years old labored for entire days in factories, fields, and various trades, earning little pay, no benefits, and (one would assume) barely a ‘thank you’ from their slave-master bosses. Children of poor families were often expected to work and help support themselves and their families. Of course this left little time … [Read more...]