Mike Rowe defended Chick-fil-A after the fast-food chain announced it would host a $35 “summer camp” for kids who want to learn how restaurants operate behind the scenes, and the chain’s Louisiana locations were accused of promoting child labor.
“What did we think was going to happen when we took home economics, crafts and basic financial literacy out of our public schools? Sooner or later, someone is going to stand up and say, ‘We have to indoctrinate the next generation with these ideas.'” Lowe told Fox Business Network on Thursday.
“God bless Chick-fil-A if they’re going to lead the way on this,” Rowe, best known as the host of Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs,” told Fox Business Network.
He praised the Georgia-based company for teaching kids “soft skills” and “basic common sense” that are “sadly lacking” among young people.
Lowe was responding to news that a Chick-fil-A in Hammond, Louisiana, is charging kids between the ages of five and 13 $35 for a three-hour session with a store manager.
The franchise in Hammond, about 45 miles northwest of New Orleans, said it offers children a “behind the scenes tour” of the fast-food restaurant.
Participating children will receive a kid’s meal, T-shirt, name tag and snack as part of the three-hour experience.
Within 24 hours of the restaurant announcing Camping on Facebook pagewhich sold out, forcing the venue to set up additional dates.
A company representative said the 200-person summer camp capacity sold out in just minutes.
“Yay!! Child Labor!!” One Facebook commenter wrote:while another said: “This is crazy lol.”
“This is so weird, are these people trained in parenting?” asked another, with a commenter adding: “They should be properly taught early on how to be corporate wage slaves.”
“When I was a kid, we didn’t go to child labor camps, we went to real summer camps…we swam in the lake, rode horses, did archery, had campfires and s’mores,” Michael Thomas wrote in a comment.
But Mr Lowe rejected the criticism, saying it was important for children to learn “soft skills” that would help them grow into mature adults.
He said programs like Chick-fil-A’s summer camps could help fill the labor shortage.
“This isn’t just a difference in skill, it’s a difference in will,” Rowe said.
Chick-fil-A, which has grown into one of the country’s most popular fast-food chains, has come under fire from liberals over the past few years, who noted the company’s former CEO’s opposition to same-sex marriage.
Several cities called for Chick-fil-A to be banned due to its past donations to groups opposed to same-sex marriage, and the company has since stopped donating to those groups.
Residents of gay-tolerant Palm Springs, California, have reacted angrily to Chick-fil-A’s plans to open a restaurant in the city.
