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Is child labor by definition exploitative? If it is then it is legal to exploit children in America, because child labor is legal in some circumstances, like a

Is child labor by definition exploitative? If it is then it is legal to exploit children in America, because child labor is legal in some circumstances, like a child working for a parent's small business.

wobblyasp 3y ago
There really isn't a comparison here. Allowing a 12 year old to work in their parent's shop part time with relatively strict hour limits (at least in Canada) is going to inherently be less exploitative then a child working for a "game development company" in which they have actual personal connection to.
- kragen 3y ago
  this depends a lot on the parent in question, unfortunately. i'm pleased that you don't have any experience with that fact, and i hope that continues to be true, but it would be worthwhile for you to gain an appreciation of the diversity of other people's life situations
  - AlexandrB 3y ago
    If your parents are shit they will be shit regardless of whether you're also working for them or not. Can't really get away from them unless you emancipate or something.
    - kragen 3y ago
      getting access to an independent income stream is vitally, vitally important in this situation, and getting away from bad parents is actually both considerably less all-or-nothing and more feasible than you are imagining, often
MisterBastahrd 3y ago
In America, you work, you get a paycheck for hours worked. At Roblox, you work, they take the majority of the proceeds and then your project has to make a decent amount of money or you NEVER get paid.
burkaman 3y ago
Child labor is a defined term that doesn't just mean kids working for a business, it only qualifies if the work "is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children and/or interferes with their schooling". - https://www.ilo.org/ipec/facts/lang--en/index.htm https://www.ilo.org/ipec/facts/lang--en/index.htm
- IncreasePosts 3y ago
  What part of that is true for kids who do "child labor" on Roblox?
  - burkaman 3y ago
    I have no idea, I don't know anything about Roblox. It's possible some kids are spending so much time making content to sell on the platform that it interferes with their schooling. It's a bit beside the point though - "child labor" is a term that the Roblox CEO brought into this discussion to defend himself, possibly because he knows it's too strong a term that doesn't really apply here. As far as I can tell the major critics used the much broader term "exploitation" (https://www.eurogamer.net/roblox-exploiting-young-game-developers-new-investigation-reports https://www.eurogamer.net/roblox-exploiting-young-game-devel...), and obviously there are many ways to exploit children that aren't child labor. The main accusation is not that they use child labor, but that they entice very young kids into making content for the game with the promise of money, but almost none of them are successful enough to actually get paid.
AlexandrB 3y ago
The reality is that children are dumb. Or at the very least very easily fooled/exploited. With parents that's (usually) not a problem because the parents are already responsible for watching out for their child's best interests. That's not the case for other employers, and certainly not the case for a multinational like Roblox.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

wobblyasp 3y ago

There really isn't a comparison here. Allowing a 12 year old to work in their parent's shop part time with relatively strict hour limits (at least in Canada) is going to inherently be less exploitative then a child working for a "game development company" in which they have actual personal connection to.

kragen 3y ago
this depends a lot on the parent in question, unfortunately. i'm pleased that you don't have any experience with that fact, and i hope that continues to be true, but it would be worthwhile for you to gain an appreciation of the diversity of other people's life situations
- AlexandrB 3y ago
  If your parents are shit they will be shit regardless of whether you're also working for them or not. Can't really get away from them unless you emancipate or something.
  - kragen 3y ago
    getting access to an independent income stream is vitally, vitally important in this situation, and getting away from bad parents is actually both considerably less all-or-nothing and more feasible than you are imagining, often

MisterBastahrd 3y ago

In America, you work, you get a paycheck for hours worked. At Roblox, you work, they take the majority of the proceeds and then your project has to make a decent amount of money or you NEVER get paid.

burkaman 3y ago

Child labor is a defined term that doesn't just mean kids working for a business, it only qualifies if the work "is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children and/or interferes with their schooling". - https://www.ilo.org/ipec/facts/lang--en/index.htm https://www.ilo.org/ipec/facts/lang--en/index.htm

IncreasePosts 3y ago
What part of that is true for kids who do "child labor" on Roblox?
- burkaman 3y ago
  I have no idea, I don't know anything about Roblox. It's possible some kids are spending so much time making content to sell on the platform that it interferes with their schooling. It's a bit beside the point though - "child labor" is a term that the Roblox CEO brought into this discussion to defend himself, possibly because he knows it's too strong a term that doesn't really apply here. As far as I can tell the major critics used the much broader term "exploitation" (https://www.eurogamer.net/roblox-exploiting-young-game-developers-new-investigation-reports https://www.eurogamer.net/roblox-exploiting-young-game-devel...), and obviously there are many ways to exploit children that aren't child labor. The main accusation is not that they use child labor, but that they entice very young kids into making content for the game with the promise of money, but almost none of them are successful enough to actually get paid.

AlexandrB 3y ago

The reality is that children are dumb. Or at the very least very easily fooled/exploited. With parents that's (usually) not a problem because the parents are already responsible for watching out for their child's best interests. That's not the case for other employers, and certainly not the case for a multinational like Roblox.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]