What exactly is the purpose of an internship? If it is to train and educate individuals in a particular field, I am not sure I understand why we are willing to PAY tens of thousands of dollars to educate our kids in classes but then turn around and complain because some internships do not pay the student, especially when that is known upfront and it is a choice to do an unpaid internship.
Sure, I understand that the employer is benefitting from the work done by the student intern, and thus the student intern should be "paid" - although I am not sure the employer who "hires" a student for a 3-month or part time internship is really getting their money's worth either, given the learning curve that is typically required of new employees before they really begin to benefit an employer. And isn't the student intern getting something else in return? (some people do value the other benefits of internships besides the monetary benefits
).