Make Children Work Again
Who needs education anyway?
Whitney Houston once sang that she believed that children are the future. “Teach them well and let them lead the way.” The sentiment, however, is clearly not shared by Florida Republicans.
As discussed on this blog before, Governor Pudding Fingers and his sycophantic toadies love passing legislation that ensures that the state is cruelest towards the most vulnerable. This time it’s our children who are in their sights.
Since Florida’s anti-immigrant laws took effect a couple of years ago, many businesses have been hurt by the lack of prospective employees which have resulted in lost profits and stagnating growth.
Instead of acknowledging the error in their ways and repealing the law to deal with the problem, Florida Republicans are looking to roll the clock back to the 19th centu
ry by putting children back into the workforce.
Some of the proposed changes to Florida’s child labor laws include allowing children as young as 14 years old to work overnight shifts on school nights. Others include “eliminating working time restrictions on teenagers aged 14 and 15 if they are home-schooled and ending guaranteed meal breaks for 16 and 17 year olds” as reported by CNN.
Child labor laws exist to ensure that youngsters aren’t abused by unscrupulous businesses, aren’t put into harms way working in dangerous trades and are able to get at least a basic education.
Florida’s move to roll back these protections is part of a broader pattern over the last several years attacking children’s well-being while claiming to be protecting them. Indeed, the attempt to put kids back to work also dovetails with the Florida government’s attacks on education.
Since at least 2022, Florida has been on a warpath: banning books, censoring class subjects, and attacking universities. The state has also placed children’s health at risk by empowering vaccine deniers like Dr. Joseph Ladapo to promote misinformation that is harming many immuno-compromised children and is likely connected to increasing rate of once eradicated diseases.
Likewise Florida’s draconian abortion laws have led to increased infant mortality rates. Yet Republicans want you to believe that they are the pro-life party.
The reality is that these changes to child work laws serve two purposes for Florida Republicans. First, it gives their corporate overlords the cheap labor they need to maximize their profits in the form of a pliable employees – young people who are mostly ignorant their rights and thus more easily exploited.
Second, the new laws will almost certainly create more dropouts and undereducated young people who will be more easily hoodwinked, bamboozled, run amok and led astray.
In other words, a new generation that will be primed to be easily brainwashed by the mis/disinformation that has allowed the Right to erode democracy in this country.
Unfortunately, there is little that can be done to stop these laws from passing as Republicans have complete control of both state houses and Governor Francis Buxton is all in on making our children dumb again.
If these laws do pass, and it looks likely that they will, the Left needs to approach this as an opportunity to begin to gain back some of the influence it has lost over the last eight years.
First, there needs to be loud and consistent shit talking spree when the inevitable catastrophe happens to one of these young people working in the middle of the night to show the hypocrisy of the so-called '“pro-life party”.
Some might say that a tragedy is no time to politicize. I say: shut the fuck up and try to win the messaging battle for once.
Second, these youngsters are being thrown into the labor market because of their youthful ignorance. But with youth also comes exuberance and idealistic fervor. Unions and labor organizers should recognize the opportunity and educate these kids on the fact that getting organized is going to help them “get the bag” as the children say (do they still say that?).
In times like these, it is hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, especially with ever more retrograde legislation getting passed. However, we need to recognize that these Republicans are also creating opportunities that can be exploited if we are willing to do the work to do it.
Let’s not let this one get away from us.