A Republican lawmaker in Missouri told 9-year-old children in the state to stop being “lazy” and go “get a job and be responsible” like she did at that age.
Lawmakers in Missouri are debating whether to eliminate the state’s requirement that children under 16 get a certificate from their school with information about the employer and description of the job, to obtain official work permits before they can start working.
Rep. Cheri Toalson Reisch (R) argued in favor of the bill, saying children nowadays are “lazy” and are more interested in joining gangs and playing video games instead of going to work like she did at age 9.
“These young kids need to be taught self-responsibility,” Reisch said. “And I can tell you my personal story. I started working at age 9. And I continued to work throughout high school when I was 14, 15.”
“You know what these kids of today are? Majority of them are lazy,” she added. “They don’t know what work ethic is. But they know how to play video games all night. They know how to join gangs. They know how to get into trouble. Get a job and be responsible.”
The bill to loosen Missouri’s child labor laws is sponsored by Republican state Rep. Dave Hinman, according to the Missouri Independent.
In addition to the certificate from schools, current state law mandates that any child under 16 must also have parental consent and age verification.
Hinman argued that schools play an unnecessary and outdated role in the process and the decision about whether children under 16 should work must be left up to the parents.
“With discussions with our superintendent and other folks around here, we felt it was better that the parents make that decision instead of schools being the ones that sign off on it,” Hinman said.
But, critics say removing the certificates may result in children getting exploited.
“We need to be careful because at the same time that [some states are] doing this, weakening restrictions, we’re seeing an increase in child labor violations and some really bad cases over the last few years,” John Fliter, an associate professor of political science at Kansas State University who studies child labor, told the outlet.
Fliter added, the certificates produce a record of employers acknowledging they will follow the law, and allow schools to play a “supervisory role” and ensure children are “not working to the detriment of their education.”
