That reminder will pop up over and over this summer as Loews Cineplex Entertainment projects it across movie theater screens in 22 states. And 37 million shoppers will carry it home on their bags from K-Mart. And another 210,000 are injured. Those rates are falling but not fast enough. Our teenagers should not be harmed by working.
Most teens work in retail fast food restaurants, supermarkets and stores.
But they also work in nursing homes, schools, amusement parks and summer camps. Some work on farms. Most injuries and deaths result from driving cars or using heavy equipment and power tools, all prohibited by child labor protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Employers are breaking the law when they let young workers drive tractors or operate fork lifts. Many young people are burned by hot grease in fast food outlets or suffer injuries when they slip and fall.