Children under the age of 16 no longer have to obtain permission to work in Arkansas. To mark the day that the child labour law rollback went into effect, social media users circulated a photo of Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders wearing a massive smile - with frowning children sitting beside her.
The photo was taken on 8 March 2023 when Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an education bill into law. But New York Times reporter Hannah Dreier resurfaced the photo on X – formerly known as Twitter – on Tuesday to highlight another bill that went into effect that day—the “Youth Hiring Act of 2023”—to try to illustrate how kids may be feeling about the new law.
The post drew a wide range of reactions from social media users, from criticism to sarcastic comments.
Orlando Sentinel reporter J.C. Carnahan wrote sarcastically, “The kids look enthused about it. What could go wrong?”
“The kids in this photo look super stoked,” another said similarly, and yet another wrote, “kids look thrilled.”
Another user remarked, “Talk about turn back the clock--good ol’ Huck-a-Buck just returned her state to the early 1900s. Way to go!!”
One user went so far as to say, “They’d rather put little kids to work (because kids will be glad to get any amount of money) than raise the minimum wage.”
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