Well, it’s officially a recession. When students can’t even work for free without their parents shelling out thousands of dollars, you know times are tough.

As someone who has two unpaid internships under her belt - and a third on the way - I’m a little disconcerted to see that it no longer takes hard work and tenacity to get your foot in the door. Nope, now it’s about how much Mommy and Daddy are willing to spend.

A charity organization in the U.S, CharityFolks.com, is offering up internships for students with starting bids at a mere $1,500, reports the Wall Street Journal. But that’s just the starting bid. Some unpaid spots (at Rolling Stone let’s say) can go for thousands more. A different for-profit site, University of Dreams, sells internship programs for $8, 000.

A recent article by the Globe and Mail’s Judith Smithson commented on the concept of auctioning off student internships. Smithson expressed her disapproval of the notion and of unpaid positions in general. Smithson says, “not only do [unpaid internships] penalize the less-affluent kids who can't afford to work for free, but they are exploitive.”

Yes, getting some bright-eyed student with big ideals and fresh ideas to do entry-level work for free is a little exploitive. And buying opportunity instead of working for it is just plain unfair.

But here’s the catch: many students of the arts NEED internship experience to get the jobs of our dreams. Most of those internships are unpaid. Especially in this time of economic upheaval, getting an upper hand over our peers is imperative. Some would say these parents are just giving their kids what they need to succeed.

And others, like me, would say that while internships are a necessary means to an end, selling them to the highest bidder defeats their purpose. Internships (paid or unpaid) should be reserved for dedicated, qualified students who are willing to perfect their resumes, endure a painful interview experience and to start at the bottom.

"The type of students corporate America wants are the students who can find their own internships," says one source in the WSJ article.

So, the fact that kids think desperate times call for Dads with deep pockets is startling but even more troubling is that paying your way to the top may be the only way to get ahead in this economy.

The competition is tough and the positions these days are scarce.  Companies are cutting jobs like crazy, leaving less staff to facilitate free labour. You’d think more interns would be the solution to recession woes but in reality, many places are scaling back on their available internship positions.

A friend of mine tried to find a placement at the Globe but was told they couldn’t take on interns at this time. Apparently, hiring freezes also apply to unpaid help.

I can’t help wonder if Smithson is on the right track when she asks, “have we now graduated from whom [or what] you know to what you can pay?”

Is this the way of the future? Will employers cut out the middlemen and start treating their internships as revenue streams while parents continuously dish out thousands for easy routes to success?

I sure hope not. I don’t want to be the one, years down the road, saying, “Back in my day, we actually had to work hard to work for free!”