Could American sweatshops be a good idea for orphans

First thing's first, I'm not talking about the stereotypical sweatshop, I'm talking about something a lot more beneficial to the children in question. The simple truth of the matter is that older foster children are EXCEPTIONALLY difficult to place successfully. Their situations cause all kinds of mental and emotional issues that can haunt them their entire lives and keep them from properly functioning adult society. So in my mind, it seems like a good alternative would be to give them the option(it'd be a voluntary program) of signing up to work for the government in various work camps. They'd work for below minimum wage but be provided a place to live and food to eat for no cost. They'd get to keep half of their paycheck and the other half would go into a trust fund that they'd get access to when they turned 18. And there'd be different kinds of camps available where they could learn trades in agriculture, manufacturing, computers, etc. The goods and services they provide could be used as a way to help pay for the camps themselves to minimize the amount of money the government has to subsidize. This way, by the time the kids turn 18 they've learned to manage personal wealth effectively, they have money saved so they can hit the ground running in regards to finding a place to live and a means of transportation, and they'd already have a few years of experience in a trade.

I know such a thing would require a LOT of over site to make sure the kids weren't actually being abused or forced to stay there against their will, but if it was handled correctly I really think it could be beneficial to kids that would otherwise have a really tough life in store for them after they turn 18.

Agreed with teaching orphans a trade. There was a time that kids without money or higher prospect were taught a trade to live by. As we become more technologically savvy, we’ve step away from that. Few city kids these days knows how change their own oil, even something little as a bike chain.

Then again, a few things will happen.
1. It becomes corrupt and some **** politician steals most the money
2. The kids are over worked
3. Some useless 3rd wave moron cries on how where forcing kids to work to hard and we instead should hold their hands and sang cumbaya.

exploiting children for labor, but with oversight. what could go wrong.

How about they go to school like a normal kid, and upon turning 18, then they can learn a trade or something.

Originally posted by SquallX
Agreed with teaching orphans a trade. There was a time that kids without money or higher prospect were taught a trade to live by. As we become more technologically savvy, we’ve step away from that. Few city kids these days knows how change their own oil, even something little as a bike chain.

Then again, a few things will happen.
1. It becomes corrupt and some **** politician steals most the money
2. The kids are over worked
3. Some useless 3rd wave moron cries on how where forcing kids to work to hard and we instead should hold their hands and sang cumbaya.

with 20% of our military budget we could probably just clone them all new parents.

Originally posted by Bashar Teg
exploiting children for labor, but with oversight. what could go wrong.

Originally posted by BackFire
How about they go to school like a normal kid, and upon turning 18, then they can learn a trade or something.

What kind of tutoring? What would the ratio be between educating them and having them do cheap labor? How many hours a day would they be forced to work/do tutoring? How would this actually be an improvement? Who would oversee this? And wouldn't this cause some normal people to lose their jobs, as companies begin trying to make deals to get cheap child labor to do the work that employees once did?

Damm orfuns steelin are jubs

Squall:

I can't imagine anyone caring enough to teach a kid survival skills these days.

Just look at nursing homes. The elderly represent the opposite side of the coin of vulnerable people at the end of their days, as opposed to orphans at the start of theirs. The people paid to care for these seniors simply don't give a shit. And no one managing gives a shit.

I know this from personal experience, both from family in the system, and from a friend who's mother works as a nurses aid.

The people involved simply DO.NOT.CARE.

I'd imagine it's the same for orphans. Nobody cares enough to give these kids a shot.

We should make the old people in nursing homes sew for money. Worked in Happy Gilmore.

Look I'm not saying that this is anywhere near an ideal system, but it's a pragmatic way to help thousands of kids who currently suffer under the status quo. While the country argues trying to agree on something everyone considers "perfect" there are a whole bunch of 18 year olds who get cut loose every year with damaged social skills, a limited education, and virtually no work ethic. This system could start helping those kids while we keep arguing over what would constitute a better system.

Originally posted by darthgoober
Look I'm not saying that this is anywhere near an ideal system, but it's a pragmatic way to help thousands of kids who currently suffer under the status quo. While the country argues trying to agree on something everyone considers "perfect" there are a whole bunch of 18 year olds who get cut loose every year with damaged social skills, a limited education, and virtually no work ethic. This system could start helping those kids while we keep arguing over what would constitute a better system.

That's what the porn industry is for, silly.

Originally posted by darthgoober
It's not exploiting them, because there'd be no way for the government to turn any kind of profit. The whole thing is voluntary and the kids could go back into the foster system any time they wanted to.

thats just offering a carrot and a stick. totally fair choice to impose on those lazy orphans.

I'm sympathetic towards the idea of making it easier to learn a trade in general. I think we should offer more options in public high schools to concentrate more on a trade like plumbing or auto repair or something. Auto repair is an elective at schools today, but there's no real benefit to taking it. Make it possible to be a more central role in high school progression and I think that would help a lot.

well yeah education and skill training are definitely the way to go. but that has to be the requirement, not an option.

Originally posted by jaden101
That's what the porn industry is for, silly.

The lucky ones who don't get ground up into pork for chinese food..

Originally posted by BackFire
What kind of tutoring? What would the ratio be between educating them and having them do cheap labor? How many hours a day would they be forced to work/do tutoring? How would this actually be an improvement? Who would oversee this? And wouldn't this cause some normal people to lose their jobs, as companies begin trying to make deals to get cheap child labor to do the work that employees once did?

And no, the way I'm picturing it people losing their jobs to cheap labor would never actually be an issue because only government work camps would be allowed. That would be an absolute necessity because if you gave the option to private businesses the stereotypical hellhole sweatshop would be inevitable. You have to keep the system small enough that it can be adequately supervised.

Originally posted by Bashar Teg
thats just offering a carrot and a stick. totally fair choice to impose on those lazy orphans.

Originally posted by BackFire
I'm sympathetic towards the idea of making it easier to learn a trade in general. I think we should offer more options in public high schools to concentrate more on a trade like plumbing or auto repair or something. Auto repair is an elective at schools today, but there's no real benefit to taking it. Make it possible to be a more central role in high school progression and I think that would help a lot.

Originally posted by Bashar Teg
well yeah education and skill training are definitely the way to go. but that has to be the requirement, not an option.

The school system isn't the problem for these kids, it's the foster system. Too many of them end up in a home with abusive foster parents who view them as little more than a source of income and outlets for the parents anger.

Originally posted by Bashar Teg
with 20% of our military budget we could probably just clone them all new parents.