Yeah, the kids are too naive about the job market.

On the other hand, it's not in anyone's interest to tell them the accurate version, right?

If the same kid instead spent their evenings working unpaid overtime for the company, because they would see it analogically to helping a family in need... the boss probably wouldn't tell them that they are making a mistake.

Heck, if someone just started telling those kids "the company owes you nothing, and you owe nothing to the company, the relationship is purely transactional, either side will be replaced when convenient", probably many people would object.

So yeah, the kids are sometimes confused by the confusing messages they get.