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Not that it’s better, but it’s not new
I did something similar as a kid in the 90’s at a papa johns
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Yeah, just wanted to make sure people knew this wasn’t some new thing. It’s been going on since at least the 90’s, and I’d bet if you found someone older, they’d say it’s been going on longer
Sure, but also I bet my kids would have a blast doing that for a morning.
kids are dumb, they like things that we as adults wouldn’t even consider ‘enjoying’, an afternoon behind the counter of a fast food restaurant they like going to would absolutely be a blast for a child. same reason why we had the macca’s fisher price thing back in the 90s, or Barbie sets with real world grocery items, it’s a different type of playground for them.
I think it boils down to the whole “we learn by doing” thing that’s at the heart of a lot of play. And especially for kids, imitating what you see the adults in your life do all the time holds some mystique and new-ness that makes boring tasks seem like exciting activities. To us, filing taxes and loading the washing machine are repetitive tasks we do out of necessity, but to kids, it’s a “grown-up thing” to be able to do.
Define exploitative? As a person that had led these events (not organized them), work basically halts during these events. You are literally showing children how to operate machines. It’s a show for the parents. The kids are not being exploited anymore than if you took them to a ranch and they brushed a horse. The children are not improving operations or efficiency. Bu all definitions, they make work worse.
With respect, and I mean it. There is a world of difference between a kid brushing a horse and a training camp for a fast food joint. I mean, really?
Obviously brushing a horse is an unusual and fun experience, but that guy is right that they’re the same amount of exploration. Kids want to play pretend at a restaurant. It’s fun. Didn’t your school do an “enterprise village” type field trip where you all play act grown up jobs for a day? It’s fun!
This is not exploration. The children are not providing anything of value period, except perhaps good will towards the brand in the future.
I guess that we shall have to agree to disagree.
Kids should have nothing to do with the corporate world until they are old enough to deal with it rationally. Whatever the rationale is for doing so, fast food joints want to materially exploit people and having kids as young as 5 play as burger slingers is beyond creepy. Feel free to have alternative views about it.
The flyer actually says they’re going to train literal children how to work at Chick-fil-A.
There’s not much room for interpretation there.
They’re training kids to be future workers.
Perhaps just let kids play and forget all about training to be “future workers”.
Is this what we’ve become? Jesus!
F
I believe working food service benefits most people.
I agree with that, for a number of reasons. I just don’t think we need programs from McDonald’s to train 5-12 year olds to be fast food workers.
I mean, the kids aren’t capable of doing actual work that would actually be profitable for the company. They’re going to slow the entire restaurant way down and probably break things. Honestly this sounds like a bad idea for the restaurant. Imagine the pure fucking chaos if all 30 kids are five years old.
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I’d never send my kids there, for sure. Although $50 to watch and feed my kid for a whole day does sound tempting.
The increase in child labour in America does seem concerning. I’m not American so I haven’t heard too much but I did hear there are some 14 year olds packing meat? Meat processing plants are awful places to work for anyone but especially kids.
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There’s a cynical humor in imagining some poor fast food employees trying to be like “Okay settle down, children, we’re gonna show yo–Hey put that down, okay quiet down now PLEASE!” , trying not to lose their minds to a bunch of sugared-up “Braedens” and “McKeinLeighs” who are unaccustomed to listening to anybody that’s not living in their iPads. 😂
Like the absolute only reason I’d be a tiny bit okay with this (and that’s still insanely iffy) is if the parents were also going to be doing it with the kids as kind of a bonding experience or something, but even then…
Want to bond with your kid, take them to the park, not some corporate hellscape.
The kids yearn for the deep fryer.
Head first, you say?
Employ? I might be missing some info but on this image, they only talk about learning. I am aware of some states legalizing child labor, but this could as well be nothing more than fun activity to discover how things work for kids, especially if they enjoy going there to eat, they may be curious about what happens behind the counter. I would like my kids to understand some of the work that happens before they can enjoy their meal.
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If they are already employing children then it definitely makes it creepier.
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I am pretty sure my kids would love this, and 35 dollar for a 3day camp is a bargain.
3 days? It’s only 3 hours, just that you choose which day you want.
Uhhh, isn’t it just 3 possible days where you choose from? And pay them $35 for 3 hours to do this shit? It’s not a camp at all it seems. Or I’m missing something.
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Ok, I also don’t like glamorizing a cooperation but I’ll let folks in on something as a parent; kids genuinely are interested in occupational stuff, especially if they see it regularly. Just at Target, for instance, they sell kid sized target branded cashier make believe stuff. And I do mean branded, with all the store brand names and everything.
I’m not getting my kid this mostly cause I’d rather not support the brands, but I do think it’s important to let kids know that it’s ok to work these jobs if that’s your deal. If anything, we as adults need to make the jobs give a living wage and not be expoitive, and to do that, you also have to teach the next generation that these jobs have value.
(And honestly, I prefer it over glamorizing police or military, which we’ve done with toys and events since forever!)
Astronaut camp is always lauded as a glamorous summer camp. But that’s a job, and it takes a massive amount of dedication.
Only makes sense that other jobs might be desirable.
I remember space camp! I was in 5th grade and they had a 2020 mission to Mars simulator. We all died.
I like to think there was a two way mirror with researchers on one side taking notes. “Don’t send a team on 5th graders to Mars”
i do feel like they could just skip the fucking cost for it, i get that they need to cover the food and tshirt and stuff, but also they are a massive corporation that is getting to propagandize to their future workers, so like maybe just eat that cost so it doesn’t leave a dystopian aftertaste?
Put a different way: if a poor family is able to get their kid into this so the kid gets a free meal and a better shot at landing a job, that’s probably the closest they can get to doing something wholesome.
This. Kids love “dramatic” play…that is, imaginative play in a costumed role.
Plenty of kids with day-glow vests and hardhats, nobody is knocking them. Plenty of kids with cop costumes, or cowboy hats, or spacesuits, or fireman jackets.
I agree with you entirely…it’s a bit “weird” on the surface, but this is really great play for kids. Kids are absolutely interested in what happens behind the scenes (or at least behind the counter) and building independence by making their own snacks and stuff.
Just as long as they aren’t having kids working at factory chicken farms. Because that would likely scar them for life. Then again, maybe they should.
Paying to train your kids to be a wage slave for a homophobic mega corporation? Sign me up /s
For more irony: they’re grooming kids to make them more accepting of exploitation.
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I thought they had stopped when it was hurting the business.
The company stopped, not the owners: https://www.esquire.com/food-drink/restaurants/a36622217/chick-fil-a-owner-donations-against-equality-act/
30 5-year olds is a lot of 5 year olds
That reminds me of a joke. I’ll change some of the words though. What’s the best thing about having thirty five year olds working for you? there’s thirty
Oh does this mean we can change all those _ _ _ _ baby jokes into labor baby jokes? What’s better than a baby working in a factory? A baby working in two factories!
This reminds me of an old Michael Jackson joke from the 90s. What does MJ like about 21 year olds? There’s twenty of them. Slaps knee :explosion: … God
I think it’s very unlikely that the kids will be doing anything resembling work that’s productive for the company.
At worst, this is glamourizing fast food and fast food jobs to children. But this isn’t slave labour, lol
Lol yeah, this will definitely be a net loss in productivity.
It is lame as a children’s activity, but I could see some novelty in it, it’s sort of like those Mr Rogers segments where they go behind the scenes at a factory.
Exactly. All 30 kids will probably love it. This probably isn’t something that parents would sign their kids up for unless they genuinely think their kid would enjoy it, lol
You’re right. But the wording is way off. They should’ve emphasized the playful character of the event more.
It probably wasn’t written by a professional, and they’re trying to satisfy two demographics.
There’s the part for the kids, obviously, but the other demographic is the parents who want their kids to LEARN something at the camp.
Parents don’t necessarily send their kids to Pokemon Camp because their kid loves Pokemon, but because the camp advertises to parents that their kids will learn X, Y, and Z skills and stuff, lol
I worked at an ice cream shop in the early 2000s that did this for cub scouts. They had a great time and got free ice cream. It’s not like we were actually making them work, lol. It’s a novelty experience for children.
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Well it was the boy scouts…
Uhhhh nope but I could see how that would be bad
The children yearn for the mines.
As per God’s will, the children will not be fed on Sunday.
Only a slight step up from asking for volunteer workers (you did not misread that).
“Pay us for your free labor: APPLY NOW!”
Fucking unreal.
Indoctrinate the younglings
Who is “grooming” the next generation again?
Does it include religious and corporate indoctrination?
You know it. Probably a lot of anti-lgbtq+ brainwashing too.
A training camp? To learn standards and techniques to an industry standard? But I thought fast food employees were unskilled workers?
