It's possibly the best lesson they will learn all year. How to challenge authority when it is wrong - by which I mean inflexible, unfair and disproportionate. If everyone took this view, we may get a better society.
As an aside, my 18 YO schooleaver son went to work for the first time today, on a building site. I hope it lives up to his expectations and I did warn him. "Dad, it can't be any worse than school" was his response.
