Can children really be volunteers? Or are we just pretending they can because it sounds better than what it is? We have laws to protect kids from being overworked, but all of that disappears the moment we call it volunteering. Suddenly, unpaid labor becomes noble, no matter how many hours it drains. Who benefits from that? And who’s counting those hours? If a child needs permission to go on a field trip, how can they give informed consent to unpaid service? Is that voluntary? Or just another system demanding time and energy from someone too young to legally consent? We act like it’s all good because there’s no money involved, but unpaid work is still work. There are no labor protections, no compensation, no formal oversight. Just a quiet expectation that kids will give and give because adults say it’s good for them. How many hours a year should a child be allowed to give away before it’s considered too much? Who is responsible when that work comes at the cost of their sleep, their play, or their mental health? Why do we regulate paid hours but not unpaid ones? It’s not character building if it’s coerced. It’s not generosity if it’s demanded. Kids deserve the right to say no. They deserve time to grow, to rest, and to choose how they use their energy. If labor laws exist to protect the young from exploitation, shouldn’t they apply to unpaid work too? Maybe it’s time we stop calling it service and start calling it what it is: unregulated child labor