Dear Editor:

The Industrial Revolution brought inventions, mass production, child labor, sweatshops and the Great Depression.

There was a mixture of growth and oppression for many, especially women and children who worked under sweatshop conditions. Historically lessons have been painful to learn, but expectations are that we don’t suffer twice to learn the same lesson. Needing a number of solutions to the desolate business and family landscape, the New Deal invigorated the population and began methodically to work at strengthening laws that would prove to bring back a robust economy with child labor and sweatshops obliterated.

Many laws were enacted, including the Wagner Act, Social Security, and programs for migrant workers and tenant farmers. With so many families living without homes, the Housing Authority and Farm Security were created in 1937, while the Fair Labor Standards Act was established in 1938. Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society followed, expanding our understanding of earned civil rights of minority populations.

Child labor laws were intended to avoid abuse of overworking our young and hindering their potential in life. The limits were based on a number of scientific studies of children’s developmental stages. Children under age 14 were at risk and the laws reflected that, precluding them from being employed in most non-agricultural jobs. Children between 14 and 16 may be employed in allowed occupations during limited hours, and children between 16 and 18 may be employed for unlimited hours in non-hazardous occupations.

A number of exceptions to these rules exist, such as parental employment, newspaper delivery and child actors. Regulations for agricultural employment are generally less strict, allowing children to work an unlimited number of hours on a farm and allowing them to do so during school hours if a parent or guardian works at that same farm. The National Safety Council reports that agriculture is the second most dangerous occupation in the United States, and continues to exploit child labor in the fields.

Despite these protections and knowledge of child risks, people are pushing to weaken child worker protections as part of a plan to eliminate all labor laws that impact business.

Jarryl Larson

Edgecomb