Where the jobs are...

[ruttinbuc]

Here is a nice tidbit of information you don't read or hear in the American media....:no:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/7330986/Apple-admits-using-child-labour.html

[hutchies]

They only found 11 kids that were 15 years old from what I read. Heck if that was true I guess all the restraunts and factories in Durant, OK are guilty of child labor. The way I grew up was if you want something you better get to work.

[wtnhunt]

Pretty messed up deal there.

I can remember working earning minimum wage when I was a kid starting over summers around age 12 or so, but it was definitely not under conditions like that. Going back to the 80's our custom interior shop's biggest competition was a factory that employed mostly mexican workers, cheaper labor. A real shame to see jobs that could potentially help move our economy forward being sent where they are treating kids like this.

[hutchies]

I guess I grew up in a different world from you guys. At 10 I was mowing 3 yards. At 15 I was washing dishes 35 to 40 hours a week. At 16 I went to work at a toy manufacturing company and was pulling down 50+ hours a week while going to school and playing basketball.

[wtnhunt]

I guess I grew up in a different world from you guys. At 10 I was mowing 3 yards. At 15 I was washing dishes 35 to 40 hours a week. At 16 I went to work at a toy manufacturing company and was pulling down 50+ hours a week while going to school and playing basketball.

Nope, don't think so. Was mowing yards pretty young too and working summers starting at about 12 years old making minimum wage and was happy to have that opportunity. I think it is good for kids to work and learn resonsibility, I don't have a problem with 15 year olds working, but do see a problem with working them the way that article suggests. I don't agree with 15 year olds working in a factory where they are exposed to a known harmful environment nor do I agree with slave labor.

Seems there has been a trend going back to longer than I have been of working age where employers were moving away from paying acceptable wages by whatever means, beit hiring imigrant workers or moving operations.

[ruttinbuc]

Nope, don't think so. Was mowing yards pretty young too and working summers starting at about 12 years old making minimum wage and was happy to have that opportunity. I think it is good for kids to work and learn resonsibility, I don't have a problem with 15 year olds working, but do see a problem with working them the way that article suggests. I don't agree with 15 year olds working in a factory where they are exposed to a known harmful environment nor do I agree with slave labor.

Seems there has been a trend going back to longer than I have been of working age where employers were moving away from paying acceptable wages by whatever means, beit hiring imigrant workers or moving operations.

The very reason ...how many million?... are out of work.

I guess I grew up in a different world from you guys.

That is all you did as a boy. No silver spoon here. I was selling seeds out of the back of The Grit newspaper when I was 10 as well as throwing newspapers, cutting grass, shoveling snow, collecting soda bottles and salvaging metal from the dump. At 12 I worked at two restaurants doing dishes and bus work. I even followed a pony ride with a wagon and a shovel to make a buck.

I worked all through high school. My junior and senior years I worked as a helper on a web press at the local newspaper after a half day of school.

Through all of the that I worked on my own free will with hours set by laws that protect minors.. Not at the end of a whip. There is no comparison to life here and in China as a fifteen year old.

[hutchies]

Certain things happen in certain places of the world nobody wants to hear about. Heck theres kids somewhere in a jungle starving to death. I realize child labor isn't politically correct but people are still buying Nike long after knowing about their sweat shops. Alot of us have worked alot of jobs when we were kids but hey thats life. I'm not detailing every job I've had I just have a problem seeing all the metro sexual 18 year old kids that don't know what work is and cry if they have to carry 10 lbs of potatoes in the house.

[Adjam5]

Society has gotten lazy as a whole. People want things to be easy and many put NO effort into making their life better.

My Dad was a General contractor and whenever I had time off from school, he had me mixing mortar by hand as often as he could for his bricklayers. The brickies would scrape the mortar tubs and let my Pop know they needed mortar and POW! I would get a slap in the head and told to mix more and work faster. Pops theory was to make me too tired to go out and get into trouble. It worked, when I got home I ate and passed out.

My sons, 3 of em all shoveled/shovel snow and raked leaves and have had jobs at some point in their life so far. My oldest Joe, bought his own AR-15(through me of course) when he was 15 all on his own. I am teaching work ethics to my boys...Count on it .

My son AJ(16) has a lazy streak in him, but all I have to do is dangle a piece of cheesecake in front of him and he comes to life:p.

[ruttinbuc]

I remember you telling me that story about your mortar mixing days, Anthony. You are doing it right for your boys to develop a good work ethic. It all starts at home.

Who do you blame for the rest of it? Who developed these metro sexual 18 year olds. Do you put it on parents or on big business who took these jobs the 18 years olds would be doing out of the country. When I got out of high school I could have went to 50+ places to work immediately just in the area where I live. That is not counting any of the trade or government jobs. Where does a kid go today. Without an education, not far.

[hutchies]

Your right.........I can't say all the blame is on one side or the other. Employers want good employees and parents don't teach their kids like they used to. It's a combination of things that have combined but everytime I walk in and my daughter is watching MTV and some girl is on there with her sweet 16 getting a Benz, Ferrari, or Jag it just burns me up. Those kids are ruined for life.

[Hoosierbuck]

Here's a glimpse into a world that is long gone for various reasons. When I was a kid, one of my many jobs was at a home improvement chain that no longer exists. I was too young to drive there, so dad gave me a ride. Once I was there, however, I ran a propane forklift in the lumber yard and throughout the store with customers walking all around me. I laugh about that one all the time. Had one of us kids dropped a bunk of lumber or a skid of driveway sealer on a customer, that store would have been history right then.

It's a sad simple fact that life in a lot of the world ios not like it is here. A lot of kids over there are not going to go to college no matter what. They are not going to go down to the park and shoot hoops. School means nothing to them, and they are thrilled to be able to help put food on the table. Life is not about how much fun you have or making sure that your inner creativity is allowed to thrive in freedom andf peace. Life is about having enough food that your empty belly doesn't keep you up at night. I am not saying child slavery is ok in any way, but you need to look at it through the eyes of the ones that live there, not looking down from our ivory towers.

HB

[stevebeilgard]

no jobs because of steve jobs.

the sad fact is, most of our jobs have left us because of our standard of living. companies prefer using cheap overseas labor to save the almighty dollar. can you even purchase anything at wal mart that isn't made in china? the sadder fact is, we are all guilty of supporting those who do not support us.