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Tennessee State Issue

Should Tennessee have hour restrictions for sixteen and seventeen year old #working teenagers?

Score for this "YES" opinion :
Score is TBD

"Equitable work hours for the youth" Aug 07, 2024

Students are expected to acquire knowledge in schools and not provide wealth for employers. 16 and 17-year-olds should devote more time to finishing school first before laboring prematurely as employees. Taking advantage of a youth’s inexperience and desperation to earn money is wrong. Thus, businesses in the great state of Tennessee should have limitations on giving work hours to student workers.

Students have hectic lives. They often juggle priorities as their teachers require all activities to extract works worthy of grading. This academic obligation as a student is already arduous and taxing. Employers should recognize this workload problem and provide hour restrictions so students will still have time to focus on their studies. 

The solution to the problem of students needing to work through classes does not necessarily need to be solved by long work hours. Rather than restricting employers from overworking students, government assistance could help students with their financial problems. If children are adequately educated, they will be better equipped to take higher-paying jobs. 

There are many benefits of working as a young adult. Firstly, a working student develops prioritization skills and responsibility for action. Through work, a student learns how to seize opportunities and learn valuable skills needed to be independent and industrious. However, a student is still a student whose primary goal is to graduate. Many overworked students fail school subjects, leading to quitting school altogether or not pursuing higher learning. 

Businesses planning on taking students as their employees should consider the plight of these youths. An entrepreneur must not take advantage of a person’s inexperience. An entrepreneur should provide students equitable pay for fair work schedules. Through this option, a student may continue their studies and still be independent and able to stand firmly on their two feet. 

Tennessee must keep the hour restrictions on child labor laws because 16 and 17-year-olds are still in school, and education should be the focus. Child labor laws are in place because employers have a history of abusing child labor. Society has advanced too far to require children to work excessively.

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