A father has sparked a fierce online debate after praising his teenage son for working "every day he can" at Burger King.
Doting dad Chris Crawford took to social media to praise his 14-year-old for his work ethic and to slam adults who were not so dedicated to their work, revealing that the teenager works "every day he can."
"When most kids are out enjoying the summer he goes in early and stays late almost every time he works," the proud father added.
The dad then insisted that despite working more than most his age, his son "loves every minute of it."
"Making his own money, saving for a car, and being responsible in his decisions, become a respectable young man!!! I couldn’t be more proud of him."
"Some of y'all lazy, grown a** people out there should take notes!! #prouddad," he added.
As of this writing, the post has amassed over 19,000 shares and 14,000 comments on Facebook, with many praising the youngster's ethic. One Facebook user even wrote: "Good for him. Working harder than all those lazy people who won’t get off unemployment."
However, while this father might have been proud of his son, not everyone was in agreement, and a screenshot of the post was later shared on Twitter with the caption: "god this is depressing".
A second went on to question whether or not the work was actually part-time, tweeting: "If he works days & weekends and usually goes in early and stays late then just how 'part time' could he be?"
Another Twitter user questioned the bigger cost of this teenager working so much at such a young age, writing: "I feel this kid is missing out on a lot of his childhood I mean if he asked to do it he can do what he wants but I miss being a kid and having no responsibility and just being a kid."
This was echoed by another Facebook user, who commented on the original post saying: "Let kids be kids for as long as they can. Being an adult sucks and kids don't understand that until they're swamped with bills and have to pay rent."
Other people then questioned the legality of a 14-year-old working so much.
One wrote: "[Maybe] it's my state but... the only place in my town that would even *hire* at 14 was food city & even then you were only allowed one Saturday bagging shift a week.... I'm wondering about the legalities if he's working full shifts multiple days a week."
In the UK, it is legal for children over the age of 14 to work, per the British Government, but they are only allowed to work a maximum of 12 hours a week during term time and 25 hours a week during school holidays.
What do you think? Was this father right for praising his son for putting work above having fun with his friends?
