No family should have to depend on the labor of its children to put food on the table and no person should be forced to work in captivity.

No one has the right to threaten the health, education, and well-being of children by involving them in illegal or inappropriate work.

Young people need the hands-on training that comes with a summer job. They need to know how to dress for success and nail job interviews. But most of all, they need mentorship, guidance, and inspiration.

In my teens, I worked as an aide in my community supervising and mentoring youth in various programs and delivering lunches to needy students.

Typically, during recessionary times, particular groups suffer higher rates of unemployment -African Americans, and Latinos, and in some cases other minority groups. If you don't have a high level of training or education you're going to fall into that category.

I grew up in a modest neighborhood just outside of Los Angeles. It was an industrial community of blue-collar, working people... some of the hardest-working people I've ever met.