A Louisiana Chick-fil-A is stirring up some major controversy after the restaurant announced its summer camp for children. Taking place July 22-24, the camp is targeted to kids between five and 12 years old and gives them a chance to learn various tasks that Chick-fil-A workers do. It will take place at a Chick-fil-A location in Hammond, Louisiana, and campers will choose one of three days to attend.
According to a Facebook post about the camp, the activities that campers will do include: learning dining room hosting and customer service skills, learning how to take an order, learn how to bag an order, and making your own Ice Dream cone or cup.
Since being published on June 6, the Facebook post has been met with well over 1,000 comments, mostly from people claiming the restaurant is taking advantage of campers by putting them to work and charging them for it. The summer camp is one day long, and costs $35 per child. One user even tagged the U.S. Department of Labor.
"Wait. You're wanting parents to *check notes* pay you, to use their young children as laborers. But they get a free meal, snack and shirt that will give you free advertising?" one person asked.
"Please just take your kids to the park and spend those $35 on water balloons and nerf idk," another person wrote.
On the contrary, there are those who have applauded the restaurant for providing campers with the work skills they'll be able to use later in life.
"I’ll go against the grain here. Kudos to you, Chick-Fil-A Hammond. It’s nice to see an offer to teach young children about work ethic and responsibility, while having a little fun at the same time," read another comment.
Although the summer camp doesn't appear to be a national program, there is another Chick-fil-A location in New Orleans that also hosts its own summer camp.
Back in 2022, a different Chick-fil-A location was in hot water over its questionable labor practices. A Chick-fil-A in Hendersonville, North Carolina, was fined for having a group of volunteers work their drive thru and paying them with food instead of actual money. The location also violated federal child-labor regulations by allowing workers under the age of 18 to operate a trash compactor.
