14-year-old: I don’t understand how it is I’m not allowed to have a job, but I have to go to school.
Me: Say what now?
14-year-old: Child labor laws mean that I’m not allowed to work, but I want to. But different laws say that I have to go to school, and I don’t want to.
Me: Well-
14-year-old: That’s child labor! I go into a place and I do work. I’m not paid. I don’t have a choice. I can get in trouble with the law if I leave!
Me: Okay, let’s assume there wasn’t a legal background for why you should go to school. Let’s assume we’re the biggest pedants in the universe and that “education” doesn’t have a centuries-old set of laws. If it were child labor, you would be working for an organization- in this case, the school- and that organization would profit off of your labor.
14-year-old: Okay…
Me: Do you see your teachers in trenchcoats on the sidewalk going “Hey you… wanna buy some homework?”
14-year-old: …no
Me: Your math test didn’t make anybody any money. There’s no market for buying teenage essays on World War II. If you’re in public school, the revenue comes from taxes that are paid by people like me.
14-year-old: But you work for the library, aren’t you also paid by taxes?
Me: It’s complicated, but I pay taxes too. And then if it’s a private school, the revenue comes from parents paying for the service of educating you. In either scenario, the teachers are the labor force and you are the recipient of the service. That service being the education that gave you the critical thinking skills to wonder if you are being forced to do child labor.
14-year-old: 😐
Me: Anything else?
14-year-old: Can I get a job? I wanna buy stuff
Me: Not till you’re 16.