I call bullcrap! When I was 13 in 1978 and in NY State I had a C.E.T.A. job where I worked 10 hrs per week durinng school term and 25I hours per week during the summer as a janitor. I had kids on the playground calling me the ty d bowl kid but every two weeks I had a paycheck in my pocket. Years later when I was in US Army basic training I had a leg up on a lot of fellow trainees because I already know how to get a spit shine buffed floor thanks to my fiirst supervisor, Ted Manns.
There is nothing wrong with learning a good work ethic early in life.
In the late 1960’s kids worked in the cafeteria and other positions in my school. I was poor and living with an Aunt to take care of her kids, but believe me... I would have loved a job like this that paid me real money. Yeah, kids made fun of the kids in these jobs, but that is LIFE.... get over it.