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The comment implies that the kids don't work. They may not even be legally able to if he lives in the region of the world where the typical HN user does.
If the kids don't work, it is impossible for him to work with them.
I know exactly what OP meant and it was just grandpa talk. Grumpy sweeping generalisations are pretty common with certain demographics.
The OP implies productive work. The work children put in around education is not productive. It can enable future work to be more productive, perhaps, but it is not productive work in the moment. It is consumptive. In that sense, educators work for the kids, they do not work with the kids.