this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2026
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I used to do odd jobs around my neighborhood as a teen and I actually kind of liked it, I got walking around money and the work was actually kind of fun and was maybe even a bit educational and enriching. I mean I guess this is also sort of the role Scouting/Pioneer organizations filled in society, since a lot of it is getting kids to do some free charity labor but it's for like nice stuff like cleaning up the park and not working in a factory.

IDK about having kids bag groceries and or be cashiers and shit. I think that's basically just a way for retail businesses to cheap out on labor.

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I'm not against this per se, but I do ask myself this question, as someone who both did youth programs and worked as a teen:

Is it good to have kids be in a space where learning, socialization, and material and mental independence are incidental to the act of working? Or is it better for children to have access to spaces whose sole goal is to give you the same things without engaging in wage labor?

It's good to have some walk around money, and I learned a lot from doing odd jobs, but since we're describing the ideal, I'd rather have kids be developing and being kids in relative material comfort than that comfort be tied to whether you can or cannot work at that moment.