Granma newspaper

Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, selectively obsessed with human rights in Cuba, has signed into law legislation lifting restrictions on child labor. The reason, as we read on CBS, is to “relax standards imposed” since 1986. The Restaurant and Bar Association was not comfortable with the barriers to child employment and advocated for more permissiveness. In its disagreement with the levels of protection for children, it was joined by the National Federation of Independent Businesses.

As in every brave new world, the new legislation takes responsibility away from the state and gives it back to parents: “Parents now have the right to decide what is right for their teenage children, and in doing so they help small businesses in Florida find workers,” declared Bill Herrle, president of the aforementioned business federation in Florida. How nice! As if rich and poor parents were on equal footing in making decisions. How will humble parents who have to feed their children decide? Will they have time and space to think about what is best for their eldest son or daughter, or will the knocking of hunger or eviction at the door of the house impose another, more Dacronian logic?

The law, however, does not allow excesses. The maximum number of hours for teenagers aged 17 and 18 is 30 per week, six hours per day… if it is a school term, and if the parents do not decide otherwise.

On Sundays and holidays, even if there are classes the next day, teenagers can work more than eight hours. If the teenager studies online, he or she does not even need parental permission to work or exceed the weekly limit. The measure – let’s not be mistaken, human rights are respected in Florida – requires employers to give teenagers a 30-minute break to eat something every four hours, if the work day is more than eight hours. Half an hour of rest in an eight-hour work day for a 17-year-old teenager. Let’s think about it.

State Representative Anna Eskamani, a Democrat, is concerned that the legislation will make teenagers more vulnerable to sexual harassment in the service and entertainment industry. Because, the policy says, bars and restaurants are where the highest rates of sexual assault occur. Florida law does not make it a crime for someone to touch another person’s genitals without consent if the victim is over 16. Such an act is treated in the same way as grabbing someone by the arm. It is only considered a crime if there is penetration. Put the new labor legislation together and draw some conclusions.

A study from ten years ago found that between 362,000 and 596,000 children and adolescents in Florida will be sexually abused before they reach the age of 18. This constitutes between 9% and 15% of all children in the state. The same study concludes that victims of sexual abuse are twice as likely to commit a violent crime in the future. The study emphasizes the economic cost of all this: some $6.5 billion annually. In the dominant American culture, everything must be brought to money in order to be understood, or rather, it is necessary for action to be taken.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a federal agency in the United States, the highest-risk ages for sexual violence in Florida are early teens through age 34. One in six Florida women is estimated to be raped in her lifetime. One in five Florida teens has contemplated suicide, and one in 10 has been raped, according to the Delores Barr Weaver Policy Center in Jacksonville. Fifty-three percent of teen girls believe life is “not worth living.”

The new labor legislation will further expose teenage girls to the danger of sexual violence, and others, by increasing their social exposure, especially in jobs that require contact with clients. However, Governor DeSantis has signed a law that prohibits children under 14 from having accounts on digital social networks, and those up to 16 years old from having them only with parental consent. For the Governor, the safety and health of children comes first… until they reach 16 and are needed as cheap labor.