Throughout most of history, children have been employed in many industries. Children have worked on farms, apprenticed with craftsmen, or more recently worked in early industrial factories. Until 1938 there was no minimum age of employment in the United States of America (Valenza, 2000). Since then, the definition of a worker has changed to exclude, as well as include, many persons. In the United States, the minimum age to work a job that has been deemed hazardous by certain government standards is eighteen, the age at which a person is considered to be an adult. Children between the age of fourteen and eighteen are allowed to work in places where the conditions are not deemed to be hazardous by regulatory agencies. Also, there are regulations restricting when and for how many hours a person under the age of sixteen can work, such as no working during school hours and working for only eighteen hours a week during the school year. Furthermore, child labor laws include exceptions for children working as paper delivery boys, working in preforming arts, and working for their parents in a family business.
Further exceptions in the agricultural industry allow children as young as ten to work with parental consent on farms not covered by minimum wage laws
(Valenza, 2000). Current child labor laws take a post-modern view of the person, much like bell hooks or Martha Nussbaum would. The laws apply cultural universals, restricting younger Americans from working; however, they include exceptions to allow for cultural differences. In rural areas some parents need their child to help provide for the family by helping feed or herd animals or milk cows. In suburban neighborhoods it allows children to provide a much needed service, delivering newspapers, that many adults would be unwilling to participate in. The definition of the person created by child labor laws includes children in varying degrees and under varying conditions. This is similar to how the legal driving age is determined by each state, which allows for children to gain their license earlier and with less restrictions in rural areas where they may need to operate a vehicle to help out on the farm.
Throughout most of history, children have been employed in many industries. Children have worked on farms, apprenticed with craftsmen, or more recently worked in early industrial factories. Until 1938 there was no minimum age of employment in the United States of America (Valenza, 2000). Since then, the definition of a worker has changed to exclude, as well as include, many persons. In the United States, the minimum age to work a job that has been deemed hazardous by certain government standards is eighteen, the age at which a person is considered to be an adult. Children between the age of fourteen and eighteen are allowed to work in places where the conditions are not deemed to be hazardous by regulatory agencies. Also, there are regulations restricting when and for how many hours a person under the age of sixteen can work, such as no working during school hours and working for only eighteen hours a week during the school year. Furthermore, child labor laws include exceptions for children working as paper delivery boys, working in preforming arts, and working for their parents in a family business. 
Further exceptions in the agricultural industry allow children as young as ten to work with parental consent on farms not covered by minimum wage laws (Valenza, 2000). Current child labor laws take a post-modern view of the person, much like bell hooks or Martha Nussbaum would. The laws apply cultural universals, restricting younger Americans from working; however, they include exceptions to allow for cultural differences. In rural areas some parents need their child to help provide for the family by helping feed or herd animals or milk cows. In suburban neighborhoods it allows children to provide a much needed service, delivering newspapers, that many adults would be unwilling to participate in. The definition of the person created by child labor laws includes children in varying degrees and under varying conditions. This is similar to how the legal driving age is determined by each state, which allows for children to gain their license earlier and with less restrictions in rural areas where they may need to operate a vehicle to help out on the farm.
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ReplyDeleteWorks Cited:
ReplyDeleteSjaarda, . (2008). Farm Boy. Retrieved October 26, 2010 from Kristin Sjaarda Photography: http://www.kristinsjaarda.com/farm-boy.htm.
Valenza, J. U.S. Federal Child Labor Law. (2000). Retrieved October 26, 2010 from University of Iowa, Child Labor Public Education Project: http://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/laborctr/child_labor/about/ us_laws.html.