The Student News Site of Mount Vernon High School

The Mustang Moon

The Student News Site of Mount Vernon High School

The Mustang Moon

The Student News Site of Mount Vernon High School

The Mustang Moon

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Do not restrict child labor on farms

By Haleigh Ehmsen-
As I read an article in today’s paper (Wed. Nov. 30) entitled “Farmer’s fume at proposed limits on Children’s work,” I couldn’t help but laugh when a mother, whose family runs a farm, commented that we “bubble-wrap” children in our modern society. My mom has always joked that “Child labor is a good thing!” while my sister and I carried in boxes or furniture to her store. It was never dangerous and she’d always carry the ones that were too heavy. I believed it is the same way on a family farm.

The problem that is discussed in the article is that the government is trying to put restrictions on child labor on farms- their family or neighbor farms. These regulations include kids not being able to work around pesticides or be near animals when their behavior is unpredictable. Many of us have chores around our houses, to a farm kid, going to feed the cows may be the equivalent of a city kid loading the dishwasher. Chores may vary from household to household as these are put into place by the parents. And so should the rules around a farm. While farms do contain heavy machinery and potentially dangerous situations with animals, it is the duty of the parent to decide whether or not a chore is dangerous. The government doesn’t need to impose on family matters, which is what they are doing when trying to create child labor laws on FAMILY farms.

It is so true that we “bubble-wrap” and protect children from potentially dangerous situations. This is a form of censorship that is truly more hazardous to society. Parents should be able to enforce the rules of their own farms and protect their children, which is what the government expects them to do as a parent; to teach them and help them grow, but if their involvement in the family farm is limited due to someone else’s rules, how can they know if they want to follow in their family’s footsteps or go in a different direction? If we are not educated fully, not just academically, but experientially, how are we expected to grow into successful adults of society?

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