The recent article, Restaurant fined for child labor violations (Dec. 23, 2022) is a sad dichotomy between government and parenting responsibilities. The past three years of a proclaimed pandemic and the shut down of state and country has devastated many businesses with the archaic labor laws of our teenage working population.

We can allow our young teenagers hours of undocumented sport or extracurricular school activities, hours of daily practices or rehearsals and allow them to travel to far reaches of the state for competitions, often reaching home in the late hours of the night without much concern. But we can’t let those who might choose to work to exceed a government-controlled mandate of a few hours?

Shouldn’t it really be a contract between the parents and maybe the school system just how much our young people can do outside the school hours? The school can determine if the student is achieving the required grade status just as they do for eligibility of school sports and activities. Ultimately, the parents should make the final decision. I can’t think of a more productive place for a young person than a work environment learning a trade, developing social skills and an income. Certainly beats hours and hours on a couch with an iPad.

Government has decimated the work ethic of our country and state over the past few years with trillions of dollars of stimulus money encouraging people to stay home. The Bureau of Labor must have better things to do than assess a business thousands of dollars and public humiliation when they are simply trying to survive and be productive members of our community and employing people. There is not a business that hasn’t struggled with staffing and it still continues to be a problem. This hardly a time to punish those who clinging for survival.

My hat is off to this local business. No one was hurt, no lives were lost and they are still paying taxes so that the bureaucrats still have jobs.

David Hastings

East Winthrop