Child Farmworkers of America, Blog #5 Assignment

The child farm workers of America particularly interest me because lately I’ve been hearing a lot about genetically modified seeds and dangerous pesticides being used on our crops. Virtually nothing we buy in the grocery store these days are free from antibiotics, pesticides, or harmful chemicals. These estimated 500,000 children, who are allowed to work on the farm as young as age 12, are being exposed to all of these harmful chemicals. The laws don’t seem fair. According to this site, there is no age requirement for doing potentially hazardous farm-related work for children who work on farms owned and operated by a parent or guardian. And moreover, there is no law regarding the number of hours children can work per week, as long as they do not work during school hours.

How is this affecting these children at school? Do they go to school exhausted, not being able to focus? How could they concentrate after waking up before the sun came up after only a short night of sleep? Some proponents of child farm workers may say the child should be able to work if he/she wants to. But come on, do 12 year old children really know what is best for them all of the time? The site mentions these students usually fall behind in school and the dropout rate is alarming. Well, I guess John Taylor Gatto would give them a high five for dropping out, but everyone else is well aware that dropping out is not a good idea. Proponents also argue that schools don’t teach a trade or skill and usually these farmhands come from low socioeconomic backgrounds where college is probably not an option. But does that matter? Sure teaching children about hard work and independence is wonderful, but it can go too far. All children have a right to basic health care and safety. There is no reason why child labor laws should be different for agriculture than they are for other jobs. If when these children turn 18 and are legally considered adults, they wish to expose themselves to highly toxic chemicals, by all means, go for it. Until then, it is our nation’s responsibility to protect them.

The No Child Left Behind Act does require that every migrant child be identified and the Migrant Education Program has specific goals set to help these children. But, we need to do more. Our government should seriously look into reforming education so that more trade skills are being learned by the students of America. Not every student can go to college or even a technical school after high school so we need the skills being taught in public education. We will always need farm workers, but please give the children another option. If they want to be a farm worker after high school, great, but let them make that choice.