Comment by dragonwriter
7 years ago
> Overall interesting, except I wonder how they manage to make it legal since basically no jurisdiction anywhere lets anyone under age sign legal contracts
This is a popular myth, but false; most US jurisdictions allow minors to form perfectly valid contracts, whether oral or written or otherwise, though such contracts, while they are still executory (that is, while some required obligation is still outstanding), are generally voidable by the minor until and unless ratified in adulthood.
This would be a real problem if credit cards were provided (though IIRC jurisdictions are mixed as to whether an unpaid financial commitment alone makes a contract executory), it's less of a problem with debit cards.
> Get a teacher at any public school in the USA to sponsor you (i.e. a school club), and suddenly the Public School System will handle ALL of this insanity for you, and ran through the schools bookstore(usually).
Perhaps, but...
> Plus they will eat all of the costs of running it, the insurance problems, the liability issues, etc.
If they agree to sponsor the activity. Which is why schools tend to have policies on the activities school clubs can engage in, based on what they are comfortable and experienced with handling, and which don't have uncomfortable administrative, liability, political, or other burdens.
And also why teachers, who often don't get paid extra to take on the role of club advisor, may not want to take the role on. Sure, if you are lucky you may have a teacher into the idea at your school, who d is willing to. You also may not. Or you may not want the activity to be limited to your school (especially if while there is interest in your area, it isn't concentrated on your school.) Getting a public school club to cover administrative, liability, etc., burdens for an activity not limited to the school’s students gets a lot harder.
You are correct, anyone of any age can sign a contract, but a contract in almost all states with an under-age person means basically nothing, not even the paper it's printed on. So yes, you can sign a contract as an under-age person, but the child is not bound to the contract until they reach an age of majority and also choose to be bound by it. I apologize for not being clearer. Which is why basically no one anywhere tries to get children to sign contracts, as it's generally just a waste of time. I know you said that, but your language wasn't very clear(to me at least), so I thought I'd make it much much clearer: Contracts with under age people in basically all US states are voidable by the child for any reason, at any time.
I.e. If I'm under age, and I get you to loan me $$$ for a computer, I promptly destroy it, return it, and claim I don't owe you any money anymore either, well most states would say it's your fault for being dumb enough to loan a child money and you are out the $$$'s you gave me, with no recourse.
I did say Sponsor. Yes, all schools have limits to what they will cover, and definitely as you say, if it's not limited to the student community (i.e. parents, etc) then it's likely to get scrutinized a lot more before being accepted for sponsorship, but plays, sports, etc are all generally open to the public and are sponsored by the school.
Most schools will also happily rent their space(s) after hours for a generally modest to small fee (say compared to going rate for rent from a business), since public schools can't make money at it.
> You are correct, anyone of any age can sign a contract, but a contract in almost all states with an under-age person means basically nothing, not even the paper it's printed on.
That's not at all correct (though, frankly, it's about the level of wrong if expect from someone who focuses on who can sign a contract rather than who can form one); I would summarize the usual legal rule, but I already did that in the post you responded to.
> plays, sports, etc are all generally open to the public and are sponsored by the school.
Not generally by getting a single faculty advisor for a student-led endeavor, those have a lot more administrative and faculty involvement, with frameworks (if not specific programs) often set up at the school board level.
> Most schools will also happily rent their space(s) after hours for a generally modest to small fee (say compared to going rate for rent from a business)
Sure, if you are covering all the liability, etc.
> since public schools can't make money at it.
Public schools absolutely can make money at it, unless the particular state law or board policy prohibits them from deriving revenue beyond recovering associated costs from rentals, which isn't, AFAIK, the norm.
Sources to learn more about how I'm wrong? I'm always up for more learning.